'n's"Old 

■  SiORE. 

'-T,K    IN 

•  &  Scarce 

Oi-.S. 
?t  2nd  So. 
.CUy.ltaJiI 


The  Pullman  Boycott, 

A  Complete    History 

of 

The  Great  R.  R.  Strike. 


By  W.  F.  Burns. 


1894: 
THE  McGILL  PRINTING  CO. 

ST.   PAUL. 


Copyrighted  1894 

BY 

W.  F.  BURNS. 


J- 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

I— The  American  Railway  Union,       -       -       -       -  7 

II— The  Boycott, 15 

III— First  Day  of  the  Strike, 26 

IV— An  Appeal  from  Debs, 32 

V— The  Federal  Government  Sides  with  the  Man- 
agers,        -       -       - 40 

VI— Troops  at  Blue  Island, 51 

VII— A  Protest  from  Gov.  Altgeld,       -       -       -       -  55 

YIII— Incendiarism  and  Bloodshed, 66 

IX— Slaughter  of  Citizens, 81 

X— Business  Men's  Protest, 92 

XI— Indictment  of  President  Debs,      ....  100 

XII— A  Protest  by  the  Peoples  Party,     -       .       -       -  108 

XIII— An  Offer  of  Settlement, 115 

XIV— Debs  in  Jail, 124 

XV— Blacklisting  Begins, 139 

XVI— Trial  of  Debs, 147 

XVII — A  Convention  of  the  American  Railway  Union 

Called  to  Take  Action  on  the  Strike,      -       -  159 

XVIII— The  Strike  Lost, -       -  167 

XIX— The  Commission, 176 

XX— Altgeld  Investigates  Pullman,         -       -       -       -  288 

XXI-Conclusion, 310 


INTRODUCTORY. 

In  presenting  this  work  to  the  public,  I  beg  leaye  to  say 
that  I  lay  no  claim  whatever  to  literary  ability,  and  will  ask 
the  reader  to  kindly  overlook  the  crudeness  of  this  my  first 
effort. 

My  line  of  work  since  boyhood  has  been  confined  princi- 
pally to  railway  service;  in  short  I  am  a  switchman,  and  in 
that  branch  of  the  serrice,  have  been  frequently  confronted 
with  the  differences  that  arise  between  the  management  of 
the  various  railroad  corporations  and  their  employees. 

While  I  disclaim  any  credit  for  ability  as  a  writer,  by  years 
of  experience  and  careful  study  of  the  condition  of  affairs  as 
they  have  in  the  past  and  do  in  the  present  exist,  I  profess 
to  be  able  to  fairly  present  the  facts  of  the  Pullman  strike. 
This  strike  was  a  matter  of  unusual  interest  to  me,  not  alone 
because  my  indiridual  interests  were  involved, but  because  the 
independence  of  every  man  in  America  who  earns  his  bread  by 
the  sweat  of  his  brow,  was  in  the  balance. 

The  right  to  organize  for  mutual  protection  was  questioned, 
nay  more,  the  right  to  be  heard,  a  right  granted  to  the 
greatest  criminal  in  any  part  of  the  civilized  world,  w^as 
refused  by  the  power  representing  the  capital  of  this  country. 
This  power  fortified  by  the  Federal  troops,  by  the  mandate 
of  the  Federal  courts,  instigated  by  the  chief  executive,  the 
president  of  the  United  States,  the  account  of  this  strike  as 
presented  to  the  public  by  the  Associated  Press,  was  George 
M.  Pullman's  and  the  General  Managers'  side  of  the  question, 
distorted  and  colored  to  suit  their  purposes. 


VI  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

My  aim  in  presenting  this  book,  is  to  disabuse  the  minds  of 
the  people  as  far  as  possible,  from  the  misleading  statements 
given  out  by  the  General  Managers'  Association  through 
their  mouth  piece,  the  Associated  Press. 

To  this  end  I  have  carefully  collected  facts  from  the  best  and 
most  reliable  sources,  aside  from  what  personal  knowledge  I 
had  of  this  strike. 

I  obtained  information  from  telegrams  received  in  our 
Central  Committee  ro»ms,  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  also 
from  committees  appointed  to  investigate  the  authenticity  of 
reports  received  from  diiferent  parts  of  the  country  where  the 
strike  extended. 

The  general  accounts  I  quote  largely  from  the  "Chicago 
Times,"  a  paper  whose  honorable  and  manly  stand  through- 
out that  great  struggle,  gained  for  it  a  world  wide  reputation 
for  honesty  and  fairness. 

The  accounts  herein  contained  are  truths  pure  and  simple, 
and  upon  these  truths  1  base  the  merits  of  this  book. 
Very  respectfully, 

W.  F.  Burns. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  AMERICAN  RAILWAY  UNION. 

In  order  to  give  a  clear  conception  of  the 
greatest  strike  in  the  history  of  railroad  organ- 
izations, it  will  be  necessary  to  go  back  to  the 
birth  of  the  American  Railway  Union. 

This  organization  was  instituted  on  the  17th 
day  of  August,  1893,  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  and 
owes  its  existence  to  its  present  leader  Eugene 
V.  Debs. 

Mr.  Debs'  connection  with  the  Brotheihood 
of  Locomotive  Firemen  dates  back  to  the  early 
seventies,  and  be  the  credit  due  to  that  organiz- 
ation for  introducing  to  the  laboring  people  of 
America,  a  leader  who  stands  absolutely  with- 
out a  peer  in  the  labor  world  to-day,  possessed 
of  the  collective  traits  of  some  of  the  greatest 
men  of  the  past. 

I  know  no  better  description  of  Debs  than 
that  of  Wm.  C.  Pomeroy  in  the  Eight  Hour 
Herald,  as  follows:  "I  am  sitting  on  the  stage 
of  a  great  meeting  of  people,  my  eyes  are  closed 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 


in  dreamy  reverie,  I  hear  a  voice  whose  reson- 
ant tones  are  familiar  to  my  ears,  the  voice,  the 
words  bear  me  in  imagination  back  to  the  days 
of  Rome,  and  Cains  Crachus  is  proclaiming  the 
coming  liberty  of  the  people.  The  words  of 
flaming  eloquence  suddenly  change  into  the  rug- 
ged tones  of  Cola  di  Rienzi,  crying:  'Arouse, 
ye  Romans;  arouse,  ye  slaves.'  The  words  are 
sweet  to  the  ears,  and  stir  my  soul  to  extacy. 
Soft,  I  am  no  longer  in  the  Eternal  City,  but 
wander  among  the  hills  and  dales  of  Judea,  and 
the  voice  has  changed  again.  This  time  'tis  the 
compassionate  tones  of  Him  of  Galilee,  beseech- 
ing to  'love  je  one  another,'  now  swift  chang- 
ing in  its  mellifluous  harmony,  I  hear  Pandora 
whisper  'the  dawn  approaches,  take  heart  of 
hope,'  and  Pometheus  answers  with  the  echoed 
groans  of  the  sufiering,  sighing  souls.  The  air 
is  now  filled  with  stirring  martial  music,  and 
above  its  changing  cadences  pours  forth  in  pas- 
sionate appeal  the  stentor  voice  of  Peter,  the 
Hermit,  raising  in  the  bosom  of  men,  the  lethergic 
love  of  duty.  Aye;  on  the  German  hilltops,  pul- 
pited  he  speaks,  and  Hermanic  in  deep-toned 
thunder  hurdles  back,  'I  come.'  Now  there  is 
a  silence  for  a  space,  and  the  changing  draperies 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  9 

of  imagination  disclose  a  newer  scene.  I  am  in 
the  meeting  of  the  Virginian  Burgesses,  and  the 
voice  has  taken  on  the  tones  of  Patrick  Henry, 
It  says:  'Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  lib- 
erty,' and,  'he  who  would  be  free  himself  must 
strike  the  blow.'  Now  'tis  Thomas  Jefferson 
giving  utterance  to,  '  we  hold  these  truths  to  be 
self  evident  that  all  men  are  born  free  and  equal.' 
And  lo!  even  as  the  soft  tones  of  the  'chosen 
son'  die  into  the  distance,  the  voice  of  Andrew 
Jackson  hurls  forth  the  edict  'each  man  and 
every  man  in  this  country,  by  the  eternal,  must 
and  shall  be  free.' 

"The  echoing  ages  take  up  the  dictum  and  it 
becomes  mingled  with  the  tones  of  him  who  at 
Gettysburg  spoke  the  immortal  flaming  words: 
'This  nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a  new  birth 
of  freedom,  and  the  government  of  the  people,  by 
the  people  and  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish 
from  the  earth.'  Scarce  had  the  utterance  of  the 
martyr  ceased  to  fill  the  air  when  Lowell  softly 
says: 

'"He's  true  to  God,  who's  true  to  men,  whenever 
wrong  is  done. 

To  the  humblest  and  the  weakest  of  all  the  behold- 
ing  sun; 


lO  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

That  wrong  is  also  done  to  us,  and  they  are  slaves 
most  base, 

Whose  love  of  right  is  for  themselves,  and  not  for 
all  the  race. ' 

"My  brain  is  puzzled.  How  comes  it,  I  ask 
myself,  that  these  heroes  dead  and  gone  are  near 
me  here  to-day? 

"What  power  permits  them  to  quit  their  abid- 
ing places  within  the  crusty  bosom  of  mother 
earth,  and  visiting  again  the  haunts  of  mortal 
man,  pour  forth  their  immortal  utterances  ?  My 
rumaging  mind  takes  on  a  newer  consciousnes. 
Reverie  lifts  her  leaden  hand  from  off  my  brow, 
my  eyes  open  and  gaze  upon  a  vast  multitude 
of  people — men,  women  and  children.  Men  are 
standing  on  the  seats  and  hurling  their  hats  in 
the  air;  women  are  weeping  in  joy  and  waving 
handkerchiefs,  all,  all  shout  in  clamorous  accord. 
Their  eyes  are  riveted  upon  the  stage,  and  upon 
a  man  who  is  gracefully  bowing  acknowledge- 
ment to  the  thunders  of  applause.  I  am  near  him, 
I  gaze  in  his  face.  'Tis  the  face  of  Eugene  V. 
Debs." 

To  my  mind  the  above  beautiful  compar- 
isons are  not  overdrawn. 

In  1874  he  was  admitted  to  the  Brotherhood 
of  Locomotive  Firemen,  and  in  1877  bis  brother 


I^HE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  11 

members  of  the  local  lodge,  recognizing  his  sup- 
erior ability,  sent  him  to  the  Indianapolis  con- 
vention to  represent  them.  The  next  year  he  was 
a  delegate  to  the  Buffalo  convention.  Here  he 
was  chosen  associate  editor  of  the  Locomotive 
Firemen's  Magazine,  and  three  years  later  he 
was  elected  editor,  and  assumed  full  control. 

In  September,  1880,  he  was  elected  Grand 
Secretary  and  Treasurer  in  Chicago,  and  to 
prove  the  confidence  placed  in  him  by  this  organ- 
ization, he  was  unanimously  elected  to  that 
office  for  thirteen  consecutive  years  without  a 
dissenting  vote,  and  at  the  last  convention,  held 
in  San  Francisco,  he  was  again  nominated 
after  making  a  speech,  courteously  but  firmly 
declining,  and  was  finally  forced  to  refuse  the 
nomination  before  his  declinature  would  be  ac- 
cepted. 

When  Mr.  Debs  assumed  control  of  this 
office,  the  Brotherhood  was  on  the  verge  of  dis- 
ruption. 

From  this  condition  he,  by  his  untiring  de- 
votion and  wonderful  executive  abilities,  elevated 
the  Brotherhood  to  one  of  the  most  powerful 
organizations  of  the  age,  and  thus  it  was  through 
the  instrumentality  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Loco- 


12  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

motive  Firemen  he  was  brought  before  the  lab- 
oring people.  Some  few  years  ago  he  saw  that 
class  organization  would  not  be  successful,  owing 
to  the  petty  jealousy  existing  between  the  different 
orders,  and  that  in  every  instance  where  one 
organization  had  a  grievance  with  a  railroad 
corporation,  the  management  would  use  one  or 
all  the  others  to  crush  the  one  having  the  griev- 
ance. 

In  order  to  remedy  this,  he  promulgated  a 
plan  of  federation  whereby  all  the  different  or- 
ganizations, engineers,  firemen,  conductors,  train- 
men and  switchmen  would  stand  as  a  unit  in  case 
of  a  grievance. 

This  federation  was  accomplished,  but  owing 
to  the  treachery  of  some  of  the  chiefs,  proved 
unsatisfactory  and  was  finally  dissolved. 

But  this  did  not  discourage  Mr.  Debs,  on  the 
contrary,  it  made  him  more  determined  than 
ever  to  save  the  employes  from  the  grinding 
power  of  railroad  corporations,  and  to  that  end 
heinstituted  the  American  Railway  Union,  embrac- 
ing all  classes  in  the  railway  service  from  the  track- 
men to  the  engineers.  This  infant  organization 
that  so  recently  became  such  a  power,  was  by 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  13 

no  means  the  ojBfspring  of  a  premature  concep- 
tion. President  Debs  deliberated  long  and  well, 
carefully  considering  all  the  points,  and  consci- 
entiously weighing  the  advantages  and  disad- 
vantages that  would  arise  from  the  formation 
of  such  a  union,  before  taking  active  steps  to 
organize. 

He  finally  decided  that  in  the  American  Rail- 
way Union  were  the  only  true  principles  of  or- 
ganization, and  in  conjunction  with  a  few  of  his 
associates,  men  true  as  steel,  such  men  as 
Howard,  Rodgers,  Bums  and,  Kelleher,  this  union 
was  founded. 

The  first  strike  that  was  authorized  by  the 
American  Railway  Union  was  that  on  the  Great 
Northern  Railway  Line,  against  a  sweeping  re- 
duction in  wages  in  all  departments  on  that 
system. 

This  strike  commenced  on  April  13,  and  after 
a  stubborn  fight  of  eighteen  days  (where  one  of 
the  shrewdest  and  ablest  railroad  presidents  in 
the  United  States  was  met  in  his  every  strong- 
hold and  defeated  by  the  grandest  labor  leader 
in  the  world,  the  matchless  Debs)  the  strike  was 
settled,  and  victory  perched  on  the  banner  of  the 
American  Railway  Union. 


14  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Then  it  was  that  the  true  principles  of  this 
organization  were  recognized  by  railroad  em- 
ployes, and  applications  for  charters  came  pour- 
ing in  from  all  parts  of  the  country. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    BOYCOTT. 

The  American  Railway  Union  is  in  every  sense 
an  American  Institution,  whose  aims  and  objects 
as  previously  stated  are  to  protect  and  shield  its 
members  from  the  grinding  power  of  railroad 
corporations.  Its  motto  is  unity:  "One  for  all 
and  all  for  one." 

The  Pullman  employes  were  admitted  to  this 
organization  and  consequently  entitled  to  the  pro- 
tection guaranteed  to  all  members,  therefore  when 
they  walked  out,  after  every  honorable  means  to 
avert  a  strike  was  exhausted,  the  American  Rail- 
way Union  was  in  duty  bound  to  sustain  them. 

The  strike  was  ordered  on  the  11th  day  of 
May,  after  an  all  night  session  by  a  committee 
of  forty-six  members  representing  every  depart- 
ment in  the  Pullman  works.  When  the  word 
was  given  four  thousand  employes  responded 
to  the  call,  and  this  proved  to  be  the  beginning 
of  the  most  gigantic  strike  in  the  history  of 
organized  labor, 

16 


16  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

The  wrongs  of  the  Pullman  people  were  not 
generally  known  to  the  public,  the  cruel  and 
inhuman  treatment  they  were  subjected  to,  was 
kept  strictly  from  the  public  ears. 

They  were  reduced  to  a  condition  of  slavery 
beneath  that  of  the  black  slave  of  the  South 
prior  to  the  civil  war,  for  while  the  black  slave 
was  clothed,  housed  and  fed,  the  white  slave  of 
Pullman  was  forced  to  work  for  wages  entirely 
inadequate  to  furnish  a  sufficient  amount  of  food 
to  keep  body  and  soul  together.  In  this  condi- 
tion, on  the  verge  of  starvation,  with  all  hope 
of  justice  from  the  hands  of  George  M.  Pullman 
gone,  they  revolted.  Whether  the  grievance 
of  these  men  was  a  just  one,  or  their  resistence 
to  further  encroachments  on  their  rights  was 
right  or  wrong,  after  reading  the  report  of  the 
committee  appointed  to  investigate  and  report 
to  the  American  Railway  Union  Annual  Conven- 
tion, at  that  time  in  session  in  the  city  of 
Chicago,  it  will   be  for  the  reader  to  decide. 

The  report,  as  condensed,  in  one  of  the  Chicago 
daily  papers,  copied  and  commented  on  by  the 
St.  Paul  Branch  of  the  American  Railway  Union, 
was  as  follows: 

After  showing    by   way   of   contrast,    that 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  17 

$30,000,000  worth  of  Pullman  stock  paid  its 
holders  9V2  per  cent  in  dividends  last  year,  the 
report  goes  statistically  into  a  comparison  of 
wages  in  the  past  year,  with  the  wages  received 
by  the  Pullman  employees  when  the  strike  was 
inaugurated.  A  fair  example  of  the  general 
reduction  is  given  in  a  comparison  in  the  price 
of  labor  involved  in  the  construction  of  a  freight 
car  in  1888  and  1893. 


Lot  1525. 

Oct.  1888. 

Nov.  1893. 

Car  carpenter 

$13.00 

$7.00 

Truck  builder 

.90 

.60 

Truck  labor 

.31 

.09 

Hanging  brakes 

1.20 

.65 

Delivering,    forging 

and 

casting 

1.05 

.35 

Delivering  lumber 

.88 

.21 

Framing 

.40 

.12 

Total  $17.74  $9.02 

Other  comparisons  in  the  same  department 
show  that  the  wages  or  men  employed  in  build- 
ing freight  cars,  have  been  reduced  49,  57%  and 
47  per  cent  on  contract  work  since  1888  and 
89,  and  a  long  list  of  figures   from  the  account 

3 


18  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

of  men  in  the  upholstering  department,  show 
that  cuts  have  been  made  in  the  prices  paid  for 
piece  work  during  the  last  twelve  months  rang- 
ing from  SSVs  to  50  per  cent.  The  painters, 
according  to  the  figures  given,  have  been  cut  20 
per  cent  since  1893  and  were  receiving,  when  the 
strike  went  into  effect,  only  23  cents  per  hour, 
while  the  union  men  employed  by  the  boss 
painters  in  Chicago  were  all  busy  under  the  scale, 
whereby  they  are  paid  35  cents  per  hour  until 
June  15th,  and  32y2  cents  during  the  summer 
months. 

The  machinists,  sheet  iron  and  tin  workers, 
foundrymen  and  blacksmiths  had  all  been  re- 
duced from  30  to  50  per  cent  during  the  last 
year,  and  even  heavier  reductions,  according  to 
the  report,  have  been  made  in  other  departments. 
Although  wages  had  been  previously  reduced, 
the  grestest  cut  went  into  effect  last  fall  in  the 
higher  grades  of  labor. 

The  reduction  then  made  was  from  80  to  120 
per  cent  and  in  the  lower  grades  30  per 
cent.  For  example,  the  price  paid  for  the 
decorating  finish  on  the  outside  of  a  Pullman 
sleeper  before  the  reduction,  was  $40.00,  and 
now  it  is  $18.00. 


THE   PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  19 

By  working  hard  for  ten  hours  a  decorator 
may  earn  $1.90. 

This  sweeping  reduction  included  all  classes, 
and  the  laborers  were  compelled  to  work  for 
from  70  cents  to  $1.00  per  day,  all  this  in  the 
face  of  the  fact  that  when  a  reduction  was  made 
three  years  ago,  the  men  were  told  that  as  long 
as  the  shops  stood  there  would  never  be  another 
cut  in  the  wages  of  those  who  worked  upon  the 
Pullman  sleepers. 

A  committee  of  girls,  from  those  who  were 
barely  keeping  body  and  soul  together  by  work- 
ing piece  work  for  $2.50  and  $3.00  per  week, 
asked  the  foreman  for  an  increase  to  enable  them 
to  live,  and  his  answer  was:  If  you  cannot 
live  upon  the  pay  you  are  getting,  go  out  and 
hustle  for  more.  Why  should  we  wonder  that 
houses  of  prostitution  find  no  difficulty  in  pro- 
curing inmates? 

Think  of  young  women  having  to  board  and 
clothe  themselves,  and  in  many  instances  sup- 
porting an  invalid  mother  or  young  brothers 
and  sisters  on  such  meager  wages. 

The  cold  blooded  averice  of  the  Pullman  com- 
pany is  not  even  satisfied  in  requiring  its  em- 
ployes  to   work   for   starvation    wages,    for   in 


20  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

wh£.t  he  exacts  from  his  tenant  employes  he  is 
even  more  grasping. 

That  model  town  of  Pullman  is  owned  by 
the  Pullman  company  and  everj^thing  about  it 
is  made  to  pay  toll  to  this  grasping  monopoly. 

All  employes  must  rent  their  houses  from 
this  slave  driving  corporation.  There  is  now  in 
the  city  of  St.  Paul  a  gentleman  who  formerly 
worked  in  Pullman,  and  growing  tired  of  pa^'ingso 
much  rent  for  such  poor  accomodations,  moved 
to  the  adjoining  hamlet,  and  rented  a  better 
house  for  $8.00  per  month.  He  was  at  once  in- 
formed that  if  he  wished  to  retain  his  situation 
he  would  have  to  move  back,  and  he  did  so. 
The  house  was  of  the  average  kind  and  was 
called  a  cottage,  consisting  of  two  rooms  down 
stairs,  each  10x14  feet,  and  three  rooms  up  stairs, 
one  of  which,  the  front  room,  was  10x12  and 
the  two  rear  rooms  each  8x10  feet,  lighted  front 
and  back,  with  no  bath  room  or  other  conveni- 
ence, and  the  whole,  a  j^art  of  a  solid  row  or 
block.  For  this  abode  there  was  exacted  a 
monthly  rental  of  $17.00  although  the  cost 
would  not  exceed  $1,000.  A  four  room  flat 
rents  for  $14.50  per  month,  and  if  you  should 
want   one  of  these  cheap   cottages  with   inside 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  21 

blinds  for  the  front  window,  you  must  pay  50 
cents  per  month  for  that  much  style.  Some  ten- 
ants have  paid  50  cents  per  month  for  this  lux- 
ury for  more  than  thirteen  years,  which  is  pretty 
good  interest  on  the  cost  of  those  blinds. 

About  100  acres  of  land  is  covered  with 
dwellings  and  the  rent  derived  is  about  $500,000 
annually,  which  is  over  8  per  cent  per  annum 
on  the  investment. 

In  manj^  of  these  houses  families  are  crowded 
into  attics  in  order  to  reduce  expenses  to  enable 
them  to  procure  the  necessaries  of  life. 

Recently  a  new  church  was  erected  in  Pull- 
man, known  as  the  Green  church  and  parsonage, 
for  which  is  demanded  a  monthly  rental  of 
$60.00  and  for  a  good  sized  audience  room,  and 
two  smaller  ones  attached  Mr.  Pullman  charges 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  society  $500  per  year. 
These  rents  must  be  paid  in  advance  and  are 
deducted  from  the  wages  of  the  men,  and  not- 
withstanding that  the  wages  have  been  reduced 
no  reductions  have  as  yet  been  made  in  the  rent. 

The  manner  in  which  these  men  have  been 
bled  in  the  matter  of  rent,  is  fully  equaled  in  the 
manner  in  which  money  for  water  and  gas  has 
been  extorted  from  them.    When  the  town  was 


22  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

built  a  contract  was  made  with  the  Village  of 
Hyde  Park,  to  furnish  water  at  the  rate  of  four 
cents  per  thousand  gallons,  and  incredible  as  it 
may  appear,  this  w^ater  was  furnished  to  the 
Pullman  tenants  at  ten  cents  per  thousand  gal- 
lons. In  other  words  he  charged  $3,000  per 
month  for  the  w^ater  which  cost  him  but  $1,200. 
This  represents  an  annual  profit  on  this  one  item 
of  $21,000. 

Could  cold  blooded  heartless  averice  go  fur- 
ther? Yes ;  in  the  matter  of  gas  which  was  man- 
ufactured and  furnished  to  the  people  by  the 
Pullman  company  itself,  and  although  the  cost 
is  but  33  cents  per  thousand  cubic  feet,  the  ten- 
ants pay  $2.25  per  thousand  while  the  same  gas 
is  furnished  the  residents  of  Hyde  Park  for  75 
cents  per  thousand. 

This  adds  from  three  to  four  dollars  per 
month  to  living  expenses  in  the  average  house  at 
Pullman. 

Another  source  of  income  which  is  w^rung 
from  the  unfortunate  victim  is  for  heat,  for 
which  the  company  charges  for  six  months  in 
the  year  $10.80  per  month. 

It  might  be  well  to  state  also,  that  no  per- 
son is  allowed  to  keep  a  horse,  unless  the  animal 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  23 

is  kept  at  the  company  stables  for  which  $3.00 
per  week  is  charged. 

Such  were  the  conditions  of  affairs  discovered 
by  the  investigating  committee  in  this  model 
town,  nor  was  this  all.  Miss  Curtis,  a  delegate 
to  the  convention  representing  a  ladies'  lodge  of 
the  American  Railway  Union  at  Pullman,  and 
whose  father  died  in  September,  '93,  was  ob- 
liged to  work  fourteen  hours  per  day  in  order  to 
earn  fifty  cents  at  the  same  work  for  which  she 
received  prior  to  the  first  reduction  $2.25  per 
day,  and  not  satisfied  with  reducing  her  wages 
to  this  starvation  point,  the  company  insisted 
on  the  payment  of  a  debt  of  $60.00  contracted 
during  her  fathers  illness.  This  is  but  a  sample 
of  the  devilish  cruelties  perpetrated  on  the  em- 
ployes by  the  Pullman  Company  to  satisfy 
their  hellish  greed  for  gold. 

This  corporation  cannot  plead  poverty  for 
thus  treating  its  employes,  as  its  capital  stock  is 
$30,000,000  and  carries  an  enormous  surplus  of 
$18,000,000  which  is  termed  a  reserve  fund. 
Mr.  Pullman's  personal  wealth  is  estimated  at 
about  $25,000,000.  Quarterly  dividends  of  not 
less  than  two  per  cent  have  been  paid  regularly 


24  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

on  the  capital  stock,  and  the  stockholders  re- 
ceive every  three  months  $600,000  as  their  share 
of  the  earnings.  It  is  to  enable  them  to  pay 
this  immense  sum  every  three  months,  that  the 
wages  of  its  employes  have  been  reduced.  Can 
it  be  wondered  that  the  American  Railway 
Union  took  the  matter  in  hand  and  declared  a 
boycott  on  Pullman  cars.  When  the  report  was 
received  every  brother  present  was  deeply  moved, 
and  it  was  the  unanimous  sentiment  of  the  con- 
vention to  declare  a  boycott,  but  before  taking 
action,  apprised  the  various  local  unions  of  the 
state  of  affairs  then  existing,  and  received  the 
sanction  of  the  local  bodies.  They  then  decided 
that  if  the  Pullman  Company  would  not  sub- 
mit the  difficulty  to  arbitration  on  or  before  the 
26th  day  of  June,  to  cut  off  the  Pullman  cars 
and  refuse  to  handle  them  until  the  matter  was 
settled.  This  action  was  taken  June  22,  and  de- 
cided action  held  off  until  June  26,  in  hope  that 
committees  appointed  to  wait  on  Mr.  Pullman 
would  be  successful  in  gaining  some  concessions 
whereby  a  peaceable  settlement  could  be  arrived 
at  before  resorting  to  the  boycott,  and,  although 
several  committees  were  sent  to  the  management 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  25 

and  every  honorable  means  resorted  to  in  order 
to  bring  about  an  amicable  settlement,  it  was  of 
no  avail  and  there  was  nothing  for  the  Amer- 
ican Railway  Union  to  do  but  enforce  the  boy- 
cott. 


CHAPTER  III. 

FIE  ST    DAY    OF    THE    STRIKE. 

The  26th  day  of  June  was  awaited  with 
more  than  ordinary  interest  by  the  people  of 
Chicago  on  account  of  the  proposed  boycott. 

The  first  train  to  leave  Chicago  handling 
Pullman  cars  was  the  Chicago  and  Erie  Buffalo 
Express,  and  hundreds  of  men  gathered  to  wit- 
ness the  departure  at  2:55  P.  M, 

It  started  out  on  time  with  several  Pull- 
mans attached  and  several  Pinkerton  detectives 
on  board.  This  was  owing  to  the  fact  that  it 
had  been  made  up  before  the  time  set  for 
the  boycott  to  go  into  effect,  but  drawbars 
had  been  chained  together  and  fastened  with 
padlocks  as  a  safeguard  against  cutting  out  the 
Pullman  cars.  Everyone  was  anxious  to  see  if 
the  engineer  would  pull  it  out.  All  doubt  was 
soon  set  at  rest  however,  as  the  engine  backed 
onto  the  train  and  started  out  on  time  as  usual. 
The  crowd  then  waited  to  see  if  the  next  train, 
the   Limited  Express,  on  the  Grand  Trunk,  due 


THE   PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  27 

to  leave  at  3:10  p.  m.,  would  meet  with  the  same 
success,  and  after  seeing  this  train  also  pull  out 
on  time,  the  crowd  dispersed. 

The  trains  on  the  Monon  Route,  Santa  Fe, 
and  Eastern  Illinois  also  departed  with  their  ac- 
customed regularity  and  without  interference, 
and  at  6.00  o'clock,  as  every  train  was  running 
on  time,  Mr.  Pullman  and  the  railway  officials 
were  quite  jubilant  at  what  they  considered  a 
complete  failure  of  the  American  Railway  Union 
to  perform  the  task  it  had  undertaken.  But  in- 
side of  three  hours  they  were  doomed  to  disap- 
pointment, for  at  that  time  not  a  wheel  was 
turning  on  the  Illinois  Central  with  the  excep- 
tion of  express  trains  that  had  been  started 
before  the  strike  was  ordered. 

The  strikers  might  have  stopped  the  Diamond 
Special  which  leaves  at  9:00  p.  M.,  but  through 
consideration  for  the  passengers  who  had  already 
purchased  berth  tickets,  and  adhering  strictly  to 
the  instructions  of  their  leaders  to  do  nothing 
to  discommode  the  travelers  who  in  all  probab- 
ility^ were  not  acquainted  with  the  existing  state 
of  affairs,  this  train  was  allow^ed  to  proceed. 
The  strike  that  parah-zed  the  traffic  of  the  entire 
countr^^  w^as  started  in  this   manner.     Early  in 


28  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

the  afternoon  a  committee  of  five  switchmen,  em- 
plo^'ed  on  the  Illinois  Central,  made  their  appear- 
ance at  the  headquarters  of  the  American  Rail- 
way Union  in  the  Ashland  block,  to  learn 
authoritively  the  nature  and  purpose  of  the 
order  issued  requiring  them  to  refuse  to  switch 
the  cars  of  the  Pullman  Company,  as  the  in- 
structions received  by  them  through  Organizer 
Meyers  of  the  union,  were  not  sufficiently  defin- 
ite, so  they  claimed,  to  warrant  their  resisting 
the  railroad  company,  and  forfeiting  their  posi- 
tions by  such  action.  The  switchmen,  they  said 
were  willing  to  help  the  Pullman  strikers,  but 
they  wished  to  know  to  a  certainty  what  was 
expected  of  them.  The  directors  of  the  union 
immediately  held  a  conference  with  the  dele- 
gates the  result  of  which  was  an  order  to  strike 
if  the  company  insisted  on  them  switching  the 
Pullman  cars.  Those  who  were  not  members  of 
the  American  Railway  Union  were  guaranteed 
equal  protection  if  they  joined  the  strike,  and  the 
result  was  a  complete  tie  up  of  the  Illinois 
Central  R.  R. 

The  Chicago  Times,  in  an  article  next  morn- 
ing, said  that  for  rapidity  of  conception  and  exe- 
cution this   strike  which  probably  involves  five 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  29 

thousand  men,  beats  anything  of  the  kind  on 
record,  and  in  the  same  article  says :  the  efforts 
to  sidetrack  the  cars  of  the  Pullman  company 
yesterday  was  carried  on  with  strict  conformity 
to  law  and  order. 

With  the  exception  of  a  crowd  attracted  out 
of  a  curiosity  to  see  what  might  happen,  there 
was  nothing  unusual  about  the  depot,  there  was 
no  boisterous  talking,  no  threats  were  made, 
and  the  few  squads  of  police  officers  sent  there 
to  preserve  order,  had  nothing  to  do. 

Train  No.  7,  due  to  leave  at  9  o'clock,  haul- 
ing two  Pullman  coaches  filled  with  passengers, 
did  not  leave  on  time  there  being  a  delay  of  30 
minutes  before  it  finally  pulled  out  of  the  depot. 
After  running  within  one  hundred  yards  of 
Grand  Crossing  it  stopped,  there  being  a  crowd 
of  about  five  thousand  people  at  this  point  of 
whom  there  was  not  to  exceed  one  hundred  and 
twentj'-five  railroad  men.  The  engineer  refused 
to  start,  and  although  Supt.  Collins  expostu- 
lated with  him  it  was  of  no  avail,  and  any 
further  attempt  to  move  the  train  was  aband- 
oned for  the  time  being. 

At  11:30  p.  M.  tower  man  Cable,  who  con- 
trols  the  switches    at    Fourty- third    street,    left 


30  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

his  post,  and  two  south-bound  suburban  trains 
were  whistling  for  the  switches.  They  were 
soon  joined  by  three  north-bound  trains,  a  freight 
train,  Michigan  Central  Fast  Mail,  and  Illinois 
Central  Limited,  and  all  were  tied  up  until  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning  when  the  superintendent 
of  terminals  threw  the  switches.  The  Chicago 
Great  Western,  Baltimore  &  Ohio,  Chicago  and 
Northern  Pacific  and  Wisconsin  Central  were  next 
to  fall  in  line  and  refuse  to  handle  Pullfnan  cars. 
President  Debs,  after  reviewing  the  situation, 
asked  the  men  as  individuals  to  consider  the 
problem  involved,  saying,  that  if  the  Pullman 
Company  was  right,  then  the  strikers  m-ist  be 
wrong,  but  if  3^ou  feel  assured  that  those  men 
are  only  striking  to  gain  that  which  is  every 
man's  right — living  wages,  then  we  ask  3'^our 
moral  support.  There  is  but  one  hope  for  the 
laborer.  Labor  must  stand  by  labor.  The  cor- 
porations have  now  forced  a  fight  upon  us  by 
combining  to  help  the  Pullman  company;  they 
have  forced  us  to  combine  and  use  the  only 
weapon  which  the  workingman  possesses,  the 
strike  and  the  boycott.  The  railroads  have 
never  done  anything  for  labor  that  the  latter 
should  hesitate  to  use  these  weapons. 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  31 

It  is  a  battle  between  allied  monopoly  against 
the  rights  of  working  people,  it  is  a  matter  of 
broad  humanity.  I  want  to  see  the  switchmen, 
the  car  inspectors  and  other  employes  w^ait 
upon  the  officials  in  a  manly  way,  and  refuse  to 
handle  these  boycotted  cars. 

I  want  to  appeal  only  to  your  reason,  and 
not  to  influence  your  passion,  but  I  ask  you  to 
take  a  manly  stand  in  the  aid  of  men,  women 
and  children  who  have  been  ground  down  by  the 
iron  heel  of  the  oppressor. 

I  would  rather  be  a  manly  pauper  than  an 
unmanly  millionaire. 

I  ask  every  man,  as  an  individual  to  think 
for  himself  and  to  do  what  he  thinks  to  be 
right. 

President  Debs  appealed  to  the  men  to  com- 
mit no  acts  of  violence  but  act  in  strict  accord- 
ance with  the  law. 

The  strike  had  now  reached  St.  Paul,  Omaha, 
Denver,  Trinidad,  Cal.;  Raton,  N.  M.;  Cincinnati, 
St.  Louis  and  Duluth,  and  no  intimidation,  no 
threats,  no  violence  of  any  kind  whatever  was 
resorted  to.  When  the  men  were  asked  to 
handle  the  Pullman  cars,  they  simply  stepped 
down  and  out. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

AN    APPEAL  FROM  DEBS. 

As  the  light  of  dawn  proclaimed  the  birth  of 
a  new  day  so  the  events  that  this  day  would 
bring  forth  was  the  all  absorbing  thought  and 
theme  of  a  great  number  of  the  American  people. 

All  were  anxious  to  learn  the  situation, 
whether  interested  in  the  boycott  or  otherwise, 
as  by  this  time  the  whole  western  part  of  the 
United  States  had  begun  to  feel  the  heavy  hand 
of  the  American  Railway  Union  boycott,  and 
every  railroad  from  the  Missouri  to  the  Pacific 
coast,  from  Manitoba  to  Mexico,  and  all  centers 
of  importance  in  the  West,  Southwest  and  North" 
west  were  tied  up,  because  the  American  Railway 
Union  men,  in  the  cause  of  humanity  and  right, 
would  not  operate  them  with  Pullman  sleepers 
attached,  and  the  railroad  managers,  in  the  cause 
of  oppression,  would  not  allow  them  to  run 
otherwise. 

Thirteen  roads  centering  in  Chicago  were  now 
completely    tied    up,    the   Santa   Fe,   Chicago  & 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  33 

Northern  Pacific,  Southern  Pacific,  Chicago  & 
Western  Indiana,  Pan  Handle,  Monon  Route, 
Chicago  &  Grand  Trunk,  Chicago  &  Erie,  Illi- 
nois Central,  Baltimore  &  Ohio,  Chicago  &  Great 
Western,  Wisconsin  Central  and  Cincinnati 
Southern,  and  the  General  Managers  had  begun 
to  realize  the  futility  of  carrying  on  the  fight, 
and  if  they  had  not  received  encouragement  and 
aid  from  outside  sources,  would  have  in  all  prob- 
ability ended  the  strike  at  once  by  dropping  the 
Pullman  cars. 

As  a  prominent  railroad  man  said  when 
asked  about  the  strike  situation  :  "  It  is  my  opin- 
ion that  the  railroads  will  drop  the  fight  just  as 
soon  as  the  American  Railwa^^  Union  can  demon- 
strate the  fact  that  Pullman  cars  can  not  be 
hauled  without  a  long  and  expensive  fight  with 
their  own  employes.  I  know  that  this  view  oi 
the  case  was  taken  by  some  of  the  managers  at 
a  meeting  to-day,  and  Mr.  Pullman  will  be  noti- 
fied that  he  must  make  a  settlement  with  his 
men  at  once,  otherwise  the  effected  roads  \vill 
drop  his  cars  and  resume  business." 

The  Union  now  felt  confident  of  success.  Pres- 
ident Debs  said :  "We  are  sure  to  win  as  our  cause 
is  just,  there  will  be  no  disturbances  as  the  men 


34  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

have  orders  that  there  must  be  no  rioting  and  no 
interference  whatever  with  the  roads,  other  than 
to  refuse  to  assist  to  operate  them. 

"Whatever  the  oflScials  can  do  for  themselves 
with  the  few  men  at  their  command  let  them  do ; 
we  propose  to  be  fair  and  square  in  this  fight, 
and  if  within  my  power  to  prevent,  not 
one  spike  belonging  to  any  road  will  be  dam- 
aged. " 

And  thus  the  second  day  of  the  great  strike 
came  to  an  end. 

June  28th  added  nine  more  roads  to  those 
already  tied  up. 

The  Chicago  &  Northwestern;  Chicago  & 
Alton;  Union  Pacific;  Denver  &  Rio  Grande; 
Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois;  Pittsburg,  Ft.  Wayne 
&  Chicago;  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &:  St.  Paul; 
Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy,  and  the  Stock 
Yard  Terminals,  making  in  all  twenty-two  roads 
out  and  twenty  thousand  men  on  strike  in 
the  city  of  Chicago,  and  not  one  act  of  violence 
committed  that  could  be  charged  to  a  striker. 

The  Mobile  &  Ohio  at  this  time  succumbed  to 
the  boycott  and  side-tracked  its  Pullman  cars 
promising  not  to  haul  them  again  until  the  strike 
was  settled.     This  rail  road  is  a  large  corpora- 


THE   PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  35 

tion,  and  its  surrender  to  the  American  Railway- 
Union  was  considered  a  great  victory,  and  the 
directors  at  once  ordered  the  boycott  raised  as 
far  as  this  line  was  concerned. 

Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul  was  now  beginning 
to  feel  the  effect  of  the  boycott. 

The  Northern  Pacific  was  the  first  in  the 
fight,  and  the  same  plan  of  action  outHned  at 
Chicago  was  followed  at  these  points  when  the 
time  came  to  make  up  passenger  trains.  The 
switchmen  refused  to  couple  on  the  Pullman's 
and  were  discharged. 

The  mediation  committee  at  once  took  up 
the  matter  with  the  manager,  asking  him  to  re- 
instate the  discharged  men,  which  he  refused  to 
do,  and  as  a  result  the  entire  sj'stem  from  the 
Pacific  coast  to  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul  was 
called  out. 

This  plan  was  adopted  and  carried  out  on 
all  the  rail  roads  entering  the  Twin  cities. 

The  boycott  was  no  longer  a  fight  in  the 
interest  of  the  Pullman  employes  alone  but  had 
resolved  itself  into  a  gigantic  contest  between 
organized  labor  on  the  one  side,  and  organized 
capital  on  the  other,  and  although  up  to  this 
time  there  had  been  no  violence,  no  loud  demon- 


36  THE  PULMLAN  BOYCOTT. 

strations,  no  threats  of  any  kind,  the  Illinois 
Central  demanded  troops  to  protect  their  prop- 
erty, and  the  militia  was  ordered  out.  On  the 
Pan  Handle  the  Cincinnati  Express  had  the  cars 
of  Mr.  Pullman  detached,  and  the  officials  cried 
"riot"  and  asked  from  Sheriff"  Gilbert  of  Chic- 
ago a  posse  to  protect  the  U.  S.  mail.  This  was 
furnished,  and  although  the  mail  cars  were  not 
molested  in  any  way,  the  officials  refused  to 
allow  the  mail  to  go  forward  without  the  Pull- 
man sleepers  attached. 

Seven  more  railroads  had  now  come  under 
the  ban  of  the  boycott  making  in  all  twenty- 
nine  at  the  close  of  the  fourth  day. 

On  June  29th  President  Debs  issued  the  fol- 
lowing appeal  to  railway  employes  of  the 
country. 

"The  struggle  with  the  Pullman  company  has 
developed  into  a  contest  between  the  producing 
classes  and  the  money   power    of    the   country. 

"This  is  what  Lincoln  predicted  at  the  close 
of  the  civil  war,  and  it  was  this  reflection  that 
gave  the  great  emancipator  his  gloomiest  fore- 
bodings. We  stand  upon  the  ground  that  the 
workingmen  are  entitled  to  a  just  proportion  of 
the  proceeds  of  their  labor.     This  the  Pullman 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  37 

company  denied  them.  Reductions  have  been 
made  from  time  to  time  until  the  employes 
earned  barely  sufficient  wages  to  live,  not  enough 
to  prevent  them  from  sinking  deeper  and  deeper 
into  Pullman's  debt,  thereby  mortgaging  their 
bodies  and  souls,  as  well  as  their  children's,  to 
that  heartless  corporation. 

"Up  to  this  point  the  fight  was  between  the 
American  Railway  Union  and  the  Pullman  com- 
pany. The  American  Railway  Union  resolved 
that  its  members  would  refuse  to  handle  Pull- 
man cars  and  equipment.  Then  the  railway  cor- 
porations through  the  General  Manager's  assoc- 
iation, came  to  the  rescue,  and  in  a  series  of 
whereases  declared  to  the  world  that  they  would 
go  into  partnership  with  Pullman,  so  to  speak, 
and  stand  by  him  in  his  devilish  work  of  starv- 
ing his  employes  to  death.  The  American  Railway 
Union  accepted  his  gauge  of  war,  and  thus  the 
contest  is  now  on  between  the  railway  corpora- 
tions arrayed  solidly  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
labor  forces  upon  the  other.  Every  railroad  em- 
ploye of  the  country  should  take  his  stand 
against  the  corporations  in  this  fight,  for  if  it 
should  be  lost  corporations  will  have  despotic 
sway  and  all  employes  will  be  reduced  to  a  con- 


38  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

dition  scarcely  removed  above  chattle  slavery; 
but  the  fight  will  not  be  lost.  The  great  princi- 
ple of  American  manhood  and  independence  is 
involved.  Corporate  power,  drunk  with  its  own 
excesses,  has  presumed  to  far  upon  the  forbear- 
ance of  the  American  people,  and,  notwithstand- 
ing a  subsidized  press  (to  which  there  are  many 
notable  and  noble  exceptions),  public  sympathy 
is  with  the  striking  employes,  who  are  merely 
contending  for  the  right  of  their  fellow  toilers  to 
receive  living  wages  for  their  work. 

"I  appeal  to  strikers  everywhere  to  refrain 
from  any  act  of  violence.  Let  there  be  no  inter- 
ference with  the  affairs  of  the  companies  involved 
and  above  all  let  there  be  no  act  of  depredation. 
A  man  who  will  destroy  property  or  violate  law 
is  an  enemy,  not  a  friend  to  the  cause  of  labor. 
The  great  public  is  with  us  and  we  need  only 
to  maintain  a  dignified,  honest,  straight  forward 
policy  to  achieve  victory.  Le  it  be  understood 
that  this  strike  is  not  ordered  by  myself  nor  by 
any  other  individual;  nor  is  the  strike  inaugur- 
ated anywhere  except  by  consent  and  authority 
from  a  majority  of  the  employes  themselves. 

"Neither  is  this  a  fight  simply  of  the  American 
Railway  Union.    The    question    of  organization 


THE    PULLMAN   BOYCOTT.  39 

ought  not  be  raised,  but  every  man  who  believes 
in  organized  railroad  labor  should  take  his  stand 
on  the  side  of  labor,  and  its  battles  for  his  rights 
and  those  of  his  fellowmen.  I  have  faith  in  the 
great  body  of  railroad  employes  of  the  country 
and  am  confident  they  will  maintain  an  unbroken 
front  in  spite  of  any  opposition  that  may  be 
brought  to  bear  against  them. 

"I  am  perfectly  confident  of  success.     We  can- 
not fail. 

E.  V.  Debs.  " 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE     FEDERAL     GOVERNMENT     SIDES      WITH      THE 
MANAGERS. 

The  fifth  day  of  the  great  stride  showed  no 
cessation  of  hostilities,  the  entire  North-western 
and  Southwestern  portion  of  the  United  States 
was  practically  at  a  standstill.  Every  road  en- 
tering Chicago  was  partially,  if  not  completely 
tied  up,  and  the  General  Managers  Association, 
under  the  leadership  of  John  M.  Egan  was  at 
sea. 

They  now  realized  that  they  had  taken  a 
contract  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  fulfill,  and 
without  the  co-operation  of  some  greater  power 
they  would  be  defeated.  A  lack  of  confidence  in 
their  ability  to  subdue  the  strikers  and  compel 
them  to  work,  was  well  illustrated  in  a  meeting 
between  Sir  George  Pullman  and  Vice-President 
Harahan  of  the  Illinois  Central.  W.  M,  Daley, 
of  New  Orleans,  was  the  only  witness  to  the 
meeting  and  his  presence  undoubtedly  saved  Sir 
George  from  a  masterly  drubbing  at  the   hands 


THE    PULLMAN   BOYCOTT.  41 

of  Mr.  Harahan.  Mr.  Pullman  entered  the  office 
of  Vice-President  Harahan,  and  in  the  course  of 
time  his  conversation  turned  to  the  strike  and 
its  effect  on  the  Illinois  Central. 

This  was  the  opening  round. 

It  aroused  all  the  ire  in  the  portly  form  of 
Mr.  Harahan,  and  with  blazing  eyes  he  turned 
on  Sir  George. 

"You  are  not  fit  to  govern  men,"  he  said; 
"instead  of  visiting  your  own  works,  you  have 
a  number  of  sujDcrintendents  who  furnish  you 
with  reports,  and  when  they  are  colored  to  suit 
3^ou  take  them  as  facts,  and  a  result  is  busi- 
ness is  embargoed,  poverty  stalks  all  over  your 
grounds,  you  are  alone  responsible  for  the  pres- 
ent condition  of  affairs  on  the  railroads.  Why 
don't  you  go  among  your  emploj-es  and  see 
things  for  yourself?  If  you  did  there  would  be 
no  such  trouble."  Then  followed  a  number  of 
epethets  such  as  thick  head,  incompetent,  over- 
rated, and  the  official  shook  his  fist  under  the 
stubby  nose  of  Sir  George  in  a  very  threatening 
manner.  Mr.  Pullman  tried  to  speak,  but  the 
Vice-President  broke  in  on  him  again.  "You 
think  you  have  a  contract  with  this  road  that 
you  can  rub  it  in  on  us,  but  you  can't,  never 


42  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

will  we  submit  to  it,  the  railroads  are  losing 
$250,000  a  day  owing  to  your  obs  tinacy.  You 
are  unfit  to  act  as  president  of  any  company, 
and  if  you  were  to  visit  your  much  boasted 
town  to-day,  the  chances  are  that  you  would  be 
dealt  with  severely.  Why,  you  are  nothing  but 
a  figure  head,  you  are  not  the  actual  president 
of  the  company,  for  if  you  were  you  would  know 
something  about  it.  You  know  nothing  in  re- 
gard to  the  actual  state  of  affairs."  It  did  not 
take  long  for  the  story  to  reach  the  different  rail- 
road centers  about  the  city. 

It  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  American 
Railway  Union  that  J.  M.  Egan  and  Manager 
St.  John  of  the  Rock  Island  road  had  employed 
two  thousand  men  in  Canada  to  fill  the  places 
of  the  strikers,  and  steps  were  taken  immediately 
to  stop  their  importation,  but  with  what  success 
it  was  impossible  to  determine. 

All  this  time  the  strike  was  spreading  and 
the  membership  of  the  American  Railway  Union 
was  increasing  rapidly.  The  sensational  reports 
of  rioting  and  bloodshed  in  various  yards  proved 
upon  investigation  to  be  false,  and  bej^ond  doubt 
circulated  by  the  General  Managers  and  eagerly 
seized  by  the  subsidized   press  to  win  the  sym- 


THE   PULLMAN   BOYCOTT.  43 

pathy  of  the  public  in  the  interest  of  the  corpor- 
ations. 

The  police  when  questioned  positively  denied 
the  stories  saying  there  were  no  grounds  for  the 
reports. 

Marching  orders  were  received  at  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Missouri  U.  S.  troops,  for  the 
15th  infantry  and  though  it  was  not  known  at 
the  time  the  orders  were  received  from  Washing- 
ton, it  was  soon  learned  that  they  were  to  go 
to  Chicago  and  assist  the  General  Managers  to 
run  their  trains. 

At  this  time  occured  the  tieup  at  Minnesota 
Transfer,  which  was  the  most  complete  and 
effectual  blockade  of  any  in  the  strike  district. 
The  Minnesota  Transfer  represents  nine  different 
roads.  The  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul; 
Chicago,  St.  Paul,  Minneapolis  &  Omaha;  Great 
Northern  ;  Northern  Pacific ;  Minneapolis  &  St. 
Louis ;  Chicago  Great  Western ;  Wisconsin  Cen- 
tral; Chicago,  Burlington  &  Northern  and  Belt 
Line  Ry. 

All  freight  through  the  Twin  Cities  handled 
by  these  roads,  is  interchanged  at  this  point.  It 
is  situated  midway  between  St.  Paul  and  Min- 
neapolis and    employes    from    three    hundred   to 


44  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

five  hundred  men  according  to  the  volume  of 
business.  This  is  a  freight  yard  exclusively,  and 
therefore  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  handling 
of  Pullman  equipment,  But  this  little  techni- 
cality did  not  prevent  this  body  of  men  from 
coming  to  the  assistance  of  their  brothers,  and 
as  each  road  was  brought  under  the  ban  of  the 
boycott  they  refused  to  handle  cars  or  in  any 
way  assist  them  to  operate  their  line. 

On  the  night  of  the  1st  day  of  July,  the 
Milwaukee  road  now  under  boycott  brought  in 
five  cars  of  beer  for  delivery  to  the  Great  Northern. 

The  men  including  the  yard  master  refused  to 
deliver  the  cars,  and  were  sent  home.  A  meet- 
ting  was  called  for  the  night  of  July  2nd,  and  a 
committee  apointed  to  wait  upon  the  superinten- 
dent, Mr.  D.  M.  Sullivan,  and  ascertain  if  the 
men  were  discharged.  Mr.  Sullivan  answered  in 
the  affirmative,  and  an  unanimous  vote  to  strike 
was  then  taken,  over  three  hundred  men,  the 
entire  force  with  three  exceptions  quit  work,  and 
not  a  wheel  was  turned  except  by  the  superin- 
tendent himself,  for  ten  days. 

The  general  Managers  now  got  in  their  fine 
work  by  utilizing  the  government.  A  Washing- 
ton special  to  the  Chicago  Times  says: 


THE   PULLMAN   ROYCOTT.  45 

Our  wretched  administration  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  railroads,  there  is  no  doubt  about  it, 
Cleveland,  Lamont,  Olney  and  Bissel  are  at  the 
beck  and  call  of  the  corporations,  from  the 
White  House  down  it  has  been  determined  to  put 
forth  every  effort  even  to  Gattlin^  guns,  to  em- 
ploy every  arm  of  the  government  even  to  its 
Supreme  Judges  to  destroy  this  strike  and  the 
laboring  people  concerned  in  it.  The  case  is  de- 
cided against  the  strikers  in  advance,  the  wired 
words  of  the  General  Managers  are  accepted  as 
settled  facts ;  what  the}'  ask  for  they  will 
get,  what  they  suggest  will  be  adopted 
the  workingmen  are  to  be  ground  beneath  the 
heel  of  the  military,  and  if  necessar^^  to  force 
them  into  submission  they  are  to  be  sabered, 
bayoneted,  shot  down  or  taken  prisoner's  or 
whatever  is  deemed  sternly  necessary  to  com- 
pel them  to  submit  to  such  terms  as  their  monej- 
crat  owner  sees  fit  to  impose. 

This  is  a  railway  administration.  So 
promptly  loyal  has  Cleveland  proven  himself  to 
be  that  it  is  to  be  believed  that  should  the  com- 
panies desire  it,  thej'  could  have  the  Executive 
Mansion  for  a  round  house  and  the  White  House 
grounds  for  switching  purposes. 


46  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

The  managers  wired  Olney  to  name  Edwin 
Walker,  who  is  attorney  for  the  Milwaukee  road 
as  special  solicitor  for  the  government,  to  take 
measures  against  the  strikers  as  they  had  no 
confidence  in  Milchrist. 

He  seemed  weak,  his  term  was  soon  to  expire 
and  he  seemed  inclined  to  avoid  harsh  measures 
ablest  with  the  men.  They  wanted  Walker,  he  was 
the  corporation  attorney'  in  the  country ;  he  had 
been  cradled  by,  and  grown  up  at  the  knee  of 
corporations ;  he  was  their  body  and  soul  in  the 
life  and  death  struggle  w^ith  their  employes. 

They  urged  Olney  to  clothe  Walker  with  the 
special  United  States  authority  to  better  protect 
them  and  overthrow  the  strike.  By  thus  making 
the  railway  attorney  Walker  solicitor  for  the 
United  States,  the  control  of  government  power 
could  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  corporations 
to  wield  against  the  men.  Walker  was  ap- 
pointed by  Olney  and  placed  in  control  over 
Milchrist  in  the  affairs  of  the  strike.  Mr.  Walker 
was  known  personally  by  Olney,  and  Olney  is 
at  the  present  time  one  of  the  counsles  of  the 
Santa  Fe  and  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy, 
and  said  to  be  a  director  of  the  latter  road.  He 
has  been  for   years   intimate    with   Mr.  Walker, 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  47 

who,  by  the  way,  is  a  hot  favorite  of  Fuller  of 
the  supreme  bench.  There  was,  therefore  a  dozen 
good  reasons  for  this  selection,  which  addressed 
themselves  to  Mr.  Olney,  who  is  in  this  not  as  a 
cabinet  officer,  but  as  a  friend  and  director  of 
railway  corporations,  and  he  therefore  precip- 
itately granted  the  request  of  the  general  man- 
agers. Bissel,  also  a  railroad  director,  shows 
Olney's  anxiety  to  come  to  the  back  of  the  roads. 
(The  truth  of  the  above  correspondence  could  not 
be  denied).  In  this  way  the  entire  available  force 
of  troops  at  Ft.  Sheriden,  including  infantry,  cav- 
alry and  artillery  was  ordered  out  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  to  assist  the  railroad 
managers  against  the  people.  Such  was  the  at- 
titute  of  this  government  "of  the  people,  by  the 
people,  and  for  the  people"  against  the  people. 
The  railway  managers  having  now  secured  the 
federal  ,troops,  proceeds  to  issue  injunctions  re- 
straining the  strikers  from  using  the  power  of 
persuation  on  those  men  still  in  the  service,  to 
induce  them  to  quit.  This  order  drawn  up  by 
Judges  Wood  and  Grosscup  w^as  a  lengthy  one, 
and  peculiarly  in  harmony  with  the  corporation 
interest. 


48  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

The  Chicago  Times,  in  an  editorial  says:  In 
this  Federal  injunction,  which  is  in  the  main  em- 
inently just  and  equally  unnecessary,  appears  a 
claim  in  which  certain  persons  named,  and  all 
other  persons  whatsoever  are  ordered  to  refrain 
from  compelling  or  inducing,  or  attempting  to 
compel  or  induce,  by  threats,  intimitation,  force 
or  violence  any  of  the  employes  of  any  of  the 
said  railroads,  to  refuse  or  fail  to  perform  any 
of  their  duties,  as  employes  of  said  railroads,  in 
connection  with  the  inter-state  business  or  com- 
merce of  such  railroads,  or  the  transportation  of 
passenger  or  property  between  or  among  the 
states;  or  from  compelling  or  inducing  or  at- 
tempting to  compel  or  induce  by  threads,  intim- 
idation, persuation,  force  or  violence,  any  of  the 
employes  of  any  of  said  railroads,  who  are  em- 
ployed by  said  railroads  and  engaged  in  its  serv- 
ice, in  the  conduct  of  interstate  business  or  in 
the  operation  of  any  of  its  trains  carrying  mail 
of  the  United  States  or  doing  interstate  business 
or  transportation  of  passengers  or  freight,  bet- 
ween and  among  the  states,  to  leave  the  service  of 
such  railroad.  The  Times  emphatically  does  not 
believe  that  any  court  whatever  has  a  right  to 
order  men  to  refrain  from  attempting  by  persu- 


THE  PULLMAN   BOYCOTT.  49 

ation  to  induce  others  to  leave  the  employment 
they  are  engaged  in.  There  is  a  natural  law  that 
in  the  end  will  prevail  over  the  formal  law 
built  up  by  lawyers  and  courts.  If  as  Judge  Gary 
says,  the  law  is  common  sense,  this  injunction  will 
not  stand,  for  common  sense  will  certainly  pro- 
nounce an  orderly  and  respectful  request  to  a 
railroad  employee  to  give  up  his  position  and  join 
the  organized  strikers,  no  crime.  It  is  idle  to 
plead  that  a  discreet  and  just  court  will  only  en- 
force this  injuction  against  actual  law  breakers, 
for  there  is  in  it  an  opportunity  for  injustice  and 
oppression  which  makes  it  wholly  bad.  The  in- 
junction is  becoming  a  menace  to  libert}^  it  is  a 
w^eapon  ever  ready  for  the  capitalist,  and  there 
should  be  more  careful  federal  legislation  limiting 
its  use. 

Certainly  if  the  restraining  order  of  Judges 
Wood  and  Grosscup  be  good  law  there  is  no 
sense  in  maintaining  organized  labor.  Childlike 
trust  in  the  benevolence  and  fairness  of  the  em- 
ployer must  be  the  workingman's  future  policy 
if  this  injunction  be  made  a  precedent. 

In  the  meantime  the  General  Manager's  as- 
sociation and  the  subsidized  press  were  endeavor- 
ing to  impress  the  public  with  the  belief  that  the 


50  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

strikers  were  a  lot  of  disorderly  and  riotous  law 
breakers  of  the  worst  description.  To  show  how 
much  truth  there  was  in  these  tales,  I  will  give 
the  statement  of  Capt.  J.  Hartnett  as  made  after 
dispersing  a  mob.  He  said:  There  wasn't  a 
railroad  man  in  the  whole  outfit,  but  a  lot  of 
bums  who  thought  they  would  have  a  lot  of 
sport  at  the  expense  of  the  railroads.  But  we 
soon  gave  them  a  hustling,  and  I  want  to  say 
this  for  the  strikers,  and  by  that  I  mean  the  real 
railroad  men,  they  are  orderly  here  and 
as  quiet  as  possible,  I  have  had  no  dis- 
turbance in  any  district  that  can  be  traced  to 
railroad  men.  It  is  well  know  than  on  occasions 
like  these  every  loafer  turns  loose  and  takes  ad- 
vantage of  the  strike  to  start  a  row,  but  the 
genuine  railroad  men  are  too  sensible  to  cause 
any  disturbance.  ^ 

This  was  true  also  of  all  other  cities  engaged 
in  the  strike. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

TROOPS    AT    BLUE    ISLAND. 

The  Fourth  of  July  dawned  upon  a  scene 
that  would  start  the  blood  of  the  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  leaping  in  flames  of 
fire  through  their  veins,  if  they  could  but  reap- 
pear upon  this  land  in  the  vigorous  manhood  of 
their  youth ;  those  heroes  whose  blood  baptized 
the  battlefields  of  Yorktown  and  Bunker  Hill  for 
the  glorious  cause  of  libert}^  and  equal  rights; 
and  behold  the  spectical  of  this  day,  they  would 
think  that  they  had  fought,  bled  and  died  in 
vain,  that  victory  after  all  was  but  defeat. 

Military  depotism  reigned  supreme.  The 
great  masses  of  the  liberty  loving  people  who 
were  want  to  celebrate  this  National  holiday  of 
Independence  in  a  manner  befitting  the  occasion, 
began  to  think.  Their  thoughts  took  them  back 
to  the  da\"S  of  English  tj-rann^',  and  the\^  ask 
themselves,  must  this  fight  be  fought  again? 
The  thoughts  were  contagous,  and  when  the 
American  people  began  to  think,  their  thoughts 

SI 


52  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

are  dangerous.  The  battle  must  and  will  be 
fought  again,  but  not  with  the  weapons  of  '76, 
but  with  the  weapon  the  old  man  can  wield  as 
well  as  the  young;  the  ballot. 

Wholesale  arrests  followed  the  arrival  of  the 
federal  troops  at  Blue  Island,  free  speech  was 
eliminated,  any  man  who  passed  along,  who 
had  the  appearance  of  striker  or  sympathizer 
was  promptly  arrested,  and  that  too  without 
a  warrant.  The  remark  "that  fellow  is  a  scab," 
was  sufficient  to  send  a  man  to  the  guard  house. 
A  fireman  was  asked  by  his  landlord,  "where 
have  you  been  lately?"  That  was  enough  he 
was  placed  with  other  shackled  prisoners  in 
the  guard  house,  but  was  released  later  on.  In 
the  morning  there  was  a  parade,  but  the  old 
time  patriotism  was  noticeably  wanting,  a  fire- 
man arrested  for  refusing  to  go  to  work,  having 
a  depressing  effect.  Patriotic  speeches  were 
prominent  by  their  absence,  and  people  began  to 
wonder  what  day  was  being  celebrated. 

The  bloodcurdling  lawlessness  and  rioting  by 
the  strikers  at  Blue  Island,  as  depicted  by  the 
corporation  press ;  when  simmered  down  to  facts 
proved  to  be  as  false  as  other  similar  reports 
sent  out  by  the  plutocratic  press.    The  so-called 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  63 

rioting  amounted  to  nothing  more  or  less  than 
expression  of  thought,  and  I  believe  if  the 
General  Managers,  corporation  courts,  Cleve- 
land &  Co.,  could  conceive  and  put  into  execu- 
tion some  plan  whereby  they  could  put  a  re- 
straining order  on  the  minds  of  the  striker  and 
deny  him  the  right  to  think,  it  would  be  done. 
The  gist  of  the  rioting  as  I  said  before  was 
simply  expression  of  thought.  A  man  as  he 
watched  a  train  pass  by  rem  arked :     ' '  There  are 

d d  few  Pullmans  anyway."  He  w^as  promptly 

arrested.  Another  remarked  that  some  fellow 
was  a  scab,  and  was  also  taken  in.  This  and 
other  like  remarks  were  samples  of  the  Blue 
Island  rioting  at  Chicago. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  federal  troops,  the 
General  Managers  Association  shifted  the  respons- 
ibility from  their  own  shoulders  to  those  of  Uncle 
Sam,  and  the  eager  willingness  that  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  people  exhibited  to  assist  Sir  Duke 
Pullman  and  the  railroad  corporation  to  subju- 
gate and  reduce  the  working  people  to  a  condition 
of  serfdom,  was  sufficient  evidence  that  the  man- 
agers knew  what  they  were  about.  They  felt  se- 
cure in  the  knowledge  that  their  interest  would  be 
well  taken  care  of  by  the  administration,    and 


64  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

sought  the  mucli  needed  rest  that  these  weary  ses- 
sions of  plotting  and  scheming  had  earned  for 
them. 


CHAPTER  Vll. 

A    PROTEST    FROM    GOV.    ALTGELD. 

It  was  plain  to  be  seen  that  the  presence  of 
U.  S.  troops  in  Chicago  had  a  bad  effect.  The 
people  felt  disposed  to  resent  this  uncalled  for  in- 
terference of  the  President.  His  unwarranted  and 
illegal  action  in  sending  federal  troops  into  the 
state  of  Illinois  uncalled  for  by  the  civil  author- 
ities (waving  all  question  of  courtesy),  was  a  re- 
flection on  the  efficiency  of  the  civil  authorities  to 
maintain  order,  and  a  direct  insult  to  the  intelli- 
gence and  loyalty  to  the  citizens  of  the  state.  The 
governor  protested  against  this  highhanded  pro- 
ceeding, and  in  no  mild  terms  insisted  that  he 
was  amply  able  and  willing  to  preserve  order  if 
called  upon  to  do  so. 

He  assured  the  President  that  it  was  not 
troops  the  railroads  needed  but  men  to  run  their 
trains,  and  this  was  the  exact  truth,  as  the  strik- 
ers were  not  interfering  with  the  running  of  trains 
but  refused  to  run  them,  and  the  companies  could 
not  operate  their  roads  without  the  aid  of  the  men 
who  left  the  service. 


56  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

But  they  needed  a  shield  to  hide  their  helpless- 
ness, and  this  they  found  in  the  federal  troops, 
therefore  it  requires  but  little  reasoning  to  under- 
stand the  bad  effect  on  the  people,  made  by  the 
presence  of  United  States  troops,  equipped  for  war 
in  time  of  peace.  This  ill  feeling,  mingled  with 
curiosity  produced  excitement.  Excitement  in- 
vited the  presence  of  the  tough  and  lawless  ele- 
ment, which  was  exactly  what  the  railroad  mag- 
nates where  striving  for,  as  the  strikers  had  no  in- 
tention of  interfering  with  their  trains,  and  they 
knew  that  it  was  necessary  to  incite  rioting  in 
order  to  have  an  excuse  for  not  operating  their 
roads. 

Their  devilish  schemes  succeeded  only  too 
well.  A  mob  composed  of  the  tough  and  hood- 
lum element  congregated  at  the  Rock  Island  yards 
and  from  Nineteenth  to  Fortieth  Street,  over- 
turned box  cars  and  destroyed  everything  that 
came  in  their  way.  The  mob  increased  until  not 
less  than  ten  thousand  people  participated  in  the 
work  of  destruction,  but  be  it  said  to  the  credit 
of  the  impartial  i^ress  of  that  city,  they  announced 
that  no  strikers  had  taken  part  in  the  lawlessness. 
Mayor  Hopkins,  who  went  in  person  to  the  scene, 
said  that  from  what  he  had  heard,  and  what  he 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  57 

could  see  for  himself,  that  no  railroad  men  were 
implicated  in  the  depredations,  and  business  men 
whose  veracity  could  not  be  questioned  corobor- 
ated  his  statement. 

This  occurrance  was  much  to  be  feared  by  the 
strikers,  as  it  was  not  the  first  time  that  such 
means  had  been  emploj^ed  to  turn  public  sentiment 
from  the  side  of  the  workingmen. 

Realizing  this  the  men  did  their  utmost  to  pre- 
vent it,  and  by  threats  and  entreaties  tried  to  per- 
suade the  mob  to  desist  from  the  work  of  destruc- 
tion, but  were  successful  only  for  a  short  time. 
One  of  the  strikers  remarked  to  an  officer  at  the 
time :  "  By  Heavens !  this  won't  do,  there  is  not  a 
striker  in  that  crowd ;  this  is  done  to  injure  us, 
and  those  fellows  are  not  trying  to  stop  it," 
meaning  the  troops. 

The  strike  had  now  reached  Toledo,  Cleve- 
land and  Buffalo,  and  was  rapidly  spreading  east, 
the  entire  country  was  in  a-  whirlpool  of  excite- 
ment, and  the  strikers  were  jubilant.  The  general 
managers  with  the  combined  forces  of  the  federal 
troops,  state  militia,  and  Cleveland  and  his  cab- 
inet could  not  operate  the  roads.  One  simple  word 
from  the  general  managers  to  Pullman  would 
have  been  more  effective  in  starting  the  trains 


58  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

than  all  tlie  armies  and  courts  in  the  United 
States  or  all  the  scabs  from  Canada,  but  rather 
than  speak  that  one  word,  "arbitration,"  they 
would  bankrupt  every  system  of  railroads  in  the 
country. 

On  July  5,  President  Cleveland  received  by 
wire  the  following  protest  from  Gov.  Altgeld  of 
Illinois : 

• '  Dear  Sir : — I  am  advised  that  you  have  ordered 
federal  troops  to  go  into  service  in  the  state  of 
Illinois.  Surely  the  facts  have  not  been  correctly 
presented  to  you  in  this  case  or  you  would  not 
have  taken  this  step,  for  it  is  entirely  unnecessary 
and  as  it  seems  to  me  unjustifiable.  Waving  all 
question  of  courtesy  I  will  say  that  the  state  of 
Illinois  is  not  only  able  to  take  care  of  itself,  but  it 
stands  ready  to-day  to  furnish  the  federal  gov- 
ernment any  assistance  it  may  need  elsewhere. 

"Our  military  force  is  ample  and  consists  of  as 
good  soldiers  as  can  be  found  in  the  country. 
They  have  been  ordered  promptly,  whenever  and 
wherever  they  were  needed.  We  have  stationed 
in  Chicago  alone  three  regiments  of  in- 
fantry, one  battery  and  one  troop  of  cavalry,  and 
no  better  soldiers  can  be  found.     They  have  been 


THE   PULLMAN   BOYCOTT.  69 

ready  every  moment  to  go  on  duty  and  have  been 
and  are  now  eager  to  go  into  service. 

"But  they  have  not  been  ordered  out  because 
nobody  in  Cook  county,  whether  official  or  pri- 
vate citizen,  asked  to  have  their  assistance  or 
even  intimated  in  anyway  that  their  assistance 
was  desired  or  necessary. 

"So  far  as  I  have  been  advised  the  local  offi> 
cials  have  been  able  to  handle  the  situation,  but 
if  any  assistance  were  needed  the  state  stood 
ready  to  furnish  100  men  for  every  one  man  re- 
quired, and  stood  ready  to  do  so  at  a  moment's 
notice.  Notwithstanding  these  facts  the  federal 
government  has  been  applied  to  by  men  who  had 
political  and  selfish  motives  for  wanting  to  ig- 
nor  the  state  government. 

"We  have  just  gone  through  a  long  coal  strike 
more  extensive  here  than  in  any  other  state 
because  our  soft  coal  fields  are  larger  than  that 
of  any  other  state.  We  have  now  had  ten  days 
of  the  rail  road  strike,  and  we  have  promptly 
furnished  military  aid  wherever  the  local  officials 
needed  it.  In  two  instances  the  United  States 
marshall  for  the  southern  district  of  Illinois  ap- 
plied for  assistence  to  enable  him  to  enforce  the 
processes  of  the  United  States  court  and  troops 


60  THE  PULLMAN   BOYCOTT. 

were  promptly  furnished  him,  and  he  was  as- 
sisted in  every  way  he  desired.  The  law  has  been 
thoroughly  executed  and  every  man  guilty  of 
violating  it  during  the  strike  has  been  brought 
to  justice 

"If  the  raarshall  of  the  northern  district  of 
Illinois  or  the  authorities  of  Cook  county  needed 
military  assistance  they  had  but  to  ask  for  it  in 
order  to  get  it  from  the  state. 

"At  present  some  of  our  railroads  are  para- 
lyzed, not  by  reason  of  obstruction  but  because 
they  cannot  get  men  to  operate  their  trains. 
For  some  reason  they  are  anxious  to  keep  this 
fact  from  the  public  and  for  this  purpose  are 
making  an  outcry  about  obstructions  in  order  to 
avert  attention.  Now,  I  will  cite  to  you  two 
examples  which  illustrate  the  situation:  Some 
days  ago  I  was  advised  that  the  business  of  one 
of  our  railroads  was  obstructed  at  two  rail- 
road centers,  that  there  was  a  condition  border- 
ing on  anarchy  there  —  and  I  was  asked  to  fur- 
nish protection  so  as  to  enable  the  employees  of 
the  road  to  operate  the  trains.  Troops  were 
promptly  ordered  to  both  points.  Then  it  trans- 
pired that  the  company  had  not  sufficient  men 
on  its  line  to  operate  one  train.    All  the  old  hands 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  61 

were  orderly  but  refused  to  go.  The  company 
had  large  shops  in  which  worked  a  number  of 
men  who  did  not  belong  to  the  railway  union 
and  who  could  run  an  engine.  They  were  ap- 
pealed to  to  run  the  train  but  flatly  refused  to 
do  so.  We  were  obliged  to  hunt  up  soldiers  who 
could  run  an  engine  and  operate  a  train. 

"Again  two  days  ago  appeals  which  were 
almost  frantic  came  from  officials  of  another 
road  stating  that  at  an  important  point  on 
their  line  trains  were  forcibly  obstructed  and 
that  there  was  a  reign  of  anarchy  at  that  place 
and  they  asked  for  protection  so  that  they  could 
move  their  trains.  Troops  were  put  on  the 
ground  in  a  few  hour's  time,  when  the  officer  in 
command  telegraphed  me  that  there  was  no 
trouble  and  had  been  none  at  that  point,  but  the 
road  seemed  to  have  no  men  to  run  the  trains 
and  the  sheriff  wired  that  he  did  not  need  troops, 
but  would  himself  move  every  train  if  the  com- 
pany would  only  furnish  an  engineer.  The  result 
was  that  the  troops  were  there  over  twelve  hours 
before  a  single  train  was  moved  although  there 
was  no  attempt  at  interferance  by  anyone.  It 
is  true  that  in  several  instances  a  road  made  an 
effort   to    work  a  few    green    men   and  a  crowd 


62  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

standing  around  insulted  them  and  tried  to  drive 
tliem  away,  and  in  a  few  other  instances  they 
cut  off  Pullman  sleepers  from  trains.  But  all 
these  troubles  were  local  in  character  and  could 
easily  be  handled  by  the  state  authorities.  Illi- 
nois has  more  railroad  men  than  any  state  in 
the  Union,  but  as  a  rule  they  are  orderly  and 
well  behaved.  This  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  so 
very  little  actual  violence  has  been  committed. 
Only  a  very  small  per  cent  of  these  men  have 
been  guilty  of  any  infractions  of  the  law.  The 
newspaper  accounts  have  in  many  cases 
been  pure  fabrications  and  in  others  wild  exag- 
gerations. 

"I  have  gone  thus  into  details  to  show 
that  it  is  not  soldiers  that  the  railroads  need 
so  much  as  it  is  men  to  operate  trains,  and 
that  the  conditions  do  not  exist  here  which 
bring  the  cause  within  the  federal  statutes,  a 
statute  that  was  passed  in  1881,  and  was  in 
reality  a  war  measure.  This  statute  authorizes 
the  use  of  federal  troops  in  a  state  where  ever  it 
is  impracticable  to  enforce  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  within  such  states  by  the  ordinary 
judicial  proceedings.  Such  a  condition  does  not 
exist  in  the  state  of  Illinois.    There  have  been  a 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  63 

few  local  disturbances  but  nothing  that  seriously 
interfered  with  the  administration  of  justice  or 
that  could  not  easily  be  controlled  by  the  local 
or  state  authorities  for  the  federal  troops  can  do 
nothing  that  the  state  troops  cannot  do. 

"I  repeat  that  you  have  been  imposed  upon  in 
this  matter,  but  even  if  by  a  forced  construction 
it  were  held  that  the  condition  here  came  within 
the  letter  of  the  statute,  then  I  submit  that  local 
self  government  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  our 
constitution.  Each  community  shall  govern 
itself  so  long  as  it  can  and  is  ready  and  able  to 
enforce  the  law,  and  it  is  in  harmony  with  this 
fundamental  principle  that  the  statute  authoriz- 
ing the  president  to  send  troops  into  states 
must  be  construed.  Especially  is  this  so  in  mat- 
ters relating  to  the  exercise  of  the  police  power 
and  the  preservation  of  law  and  order.  To  ab- 
solutely ignore  a  local  government  in  matters  of 
this  kind,  when  the  local  government  is  ready  to 
furnish  assistance  needed  and  is  amply  able  to 
enforce  the  law,  not  only  insults  the  people  of 
this  state  by  imputing  to  them  an  inability  to 
govern  themselves  or  an  unwillingness  to  enforce 
the  law,  but  is  in  violation  of  a  basic  principle 
of  our  institutions. 


64  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

"  The  question  of  federal  supremacy  is  in  no 
way  involved;  no  one  disputes  it  for  a  moment 
but  under  our  constitution  federal  supremacy 
and  local  self  government  must  go  hand  in  hand 
and  to  ignore  the  latter  is  to  do  violence  to  the 
constitution. 

"As  governor  of  the  state  of  Illinois  I  protest 
against  this  and  ask  the  immediate  withdrawal 
of  the  federal  troops  from  active  duty  in  this 
state. 

"Should  the  situation  at  any  time  get  so  ser- 
ious that  we  cannot  control  it  with  the  state 
troops  we  will  promptly  and  freely  ask  for  federal 
assistance,  but  until  such  time  I  protest  with  all 
due  deference  against  this  uncalled  for  reflection 
upon  our  people  and  again  ask  the  Immediate 
withdrawal  of  the  troops.  I  have  the  honor 
to  be,  Yours  respectfully 

John  P.  Altgeld, 
Governor  of  Illinois." 

To  the  above  communication  President  Cleve- 
land answered  as  follows: 

"To  the  Hon.  John  P.  Altgeld,  governor  of 
Illinois.  Federal  troops  were  sent  to  Chicago 
in  strict  accordance  with  the  constitutions  and 
laws  of  the  United  States    upon    the  demand  of 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  65 

the  post  office  department  that  obstructions  of 
the  mails  should  be  removed,  and  upon  the  rep- 
resentations of  the  judicial  officers  of  the  United 
States  that  process  of  law  federal  courts  could 
not  be  executed  through  the  ordinary  means, 
and  upon  abundant  proof  that  conspiracies  ex- 
isted against  commerce  between  the  states.  To 
meet  these  conditions,  which  are  clearely  within 
the  province  of  federal  authority,  the  presence 
of  federal  troops  in  Chicago  was  deemed  not 
only  proper  but  necessary,  and  there  has  been 
no  intention  of  thereby  interfering  with  the 
plain  duty  of  the  local  authorities  to  preserve 
the  peace  of  the  city, 

Grover  Cleveland." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

INCENDIARISM    AND  BLOODSHED. 

The  6th  day  of  July  was  one  long  to  be  re- 
membered, as  the  first  act  of  incendiarism  was 
committed.  A  conflagration  was  started  along 
the  tracks  of  the  Pan  Handle,  Baltimore  & 
Ohio ;  Chicago  &  Northern  Pacific,  and  Belt  Line 
R,  R.,  which  terminated  in  the  burning  of  whole 
trains  of  cars,  switch  houses  and  tool  houses 
belonging  to  these  companies.  A  splendid  tower 
house  belonging  to  the  Pan  Handle  was  saved 
through  the  supreme  efforts  of  the  strikers,  who 
tore  away  the  burning  sidewalks  which  connec- 
ted the  tool-house  with  the  tower-house.  This 
fine  structure  was  recently  built  and  cost  the 
company  $40,000.  Upon  the  authority  cf  the 
city  police  and  firemen,  I  can  state  that  the 
fires  were  started  by  a  crowd  of  young  hood- 
lums and  toughs  living  in  the  vicinity,  and  the 
strikers  were  in   no  way  responsible  for  them. 

There  was  only  a  small  crowd  of  these  young 
toughs  around  the  yards,  they  scattered  in  differ- 
ent directions  and  simultaneously  fire  broke  out 


THE   PULLMAN   BOYCOTT.  67 

in  different  places.  One  boy  was  seen  to  set 
fire  to  a  bunch  of  waste,  and  throw  it  into  the 
empty  cars  as  he  ran,  and  the  dry  woodwork  was 
soon  a  mass  of  flames.  Between  eight  hundred 
and  sixteen  hundred  cars  were  destroyed  by  this 
conflagration  and  the  loss  aggregated  over  $200,- 
000,  besides  three  men  killed  outright  and  seven 
wounded. 

The  peaceable  and  law  abiding  city  of  Chicago 
was  feeling  the  effects  of  a  reign  of  terrer.  Inno- 
cent men,  women  and  children  were  being  shot 
down  or  bayoneted  by  the  tools  of  railroad  corp- 
orations in  a  most  cold  blooded  and  heartless 
manner.  According  to  the  statements  of  eye  wit- 
nesses some  3^oung  fellows  under  the  age  of  sixteen 
years,  and  therefore  not  strikers,  threw  stones  at 
the  soldiers  who  at  once  began  to  shoot  indis- 
criminately into  a  crowd  composed  of  men, 
women  and  children  who  had  no  connection 
whatever  with  the  affair,  then  with  fixed  bayonets 
charged  upon  the  people,  and  those  who  were  un- 
fortunate enough  to  be  caught  were  severely  dealt 
with.  One  old  man,  a  Pole,  who  was  standing  in 
in  his  own  door  yard,  and  seeing  the  people  run 
took  fright  and  started  into  his  house,  was  pur- 
sued by  a  soldier  who  saw  him  run  and  stabbed 


68  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

in  the  back.  The  old  man  fell  shrieking  to  the 
ground,  begging  for  mercy,  when  the  brutal  fiend 
plunged  the  bayonet  twice  more  into  the  helpless 
form  and  left  him  in  a  dying  condition. 

One  young  lady  was  shot  while  standing  on 
the  roof  of  her  own  house,  and  fell  a  corpse  in  her 
brother's  arm. 

Still  another  victim  was  a  man  who  was  shot 
while  standing  in  the  doorway  of  his  home  and  a 
rioter  by  the  name  of  Burke  w^as  shot  and 
killed  in  the  charge. 

In  an  editorial  the  Chicago  Times  says :  "Let 
us  examine  the  net  results  of  the  activity 
of  the  troops  on  Saturda}^;  results  of 
which  the  amateur  soldier  Brigadier  General 
Wheeler  remarked :  "I  am  glad  that  the  troops 
made  a  stand  and  that  blood  was  shed."  There 
is  some  conflict  in  the  reports  of  the  day's  carn- 
age, but  the  salient  facts  seem  to  be  these: 

'•Three  persons  in  all  were  shot  dead,  one  of 
these,  an  eighteen  year  old  girl,  was  standing  on  a 
distant  house  top  watching  the  fray,  when  a  bul- 
let pierced  her  heart.  Of  course  she  was  not  a 
striker  nor  was  her  continued  life  a  menace  to  Am- 
erican institutions. 

"John  Burke,  identified  by  the  police  as  a  pro- 


THE   PULLMAN   BOYCOTT. 


fessional  crook,  was  another  victim  and  his  pres- 
ence in  the  mob  adds  evidence  to  the  claim  of  the 
Times  that  the  rioting  was  the  work  of  chronic 
toughs  and  criminals  and  not  of  workingmen. 
Joseph  Warzouski,  the  third  to  fall  before  a  mili- 
tary bullet,  was  sitting  smoking  before  his  house 
door  when  wantonly  shot  down  by  a  regular.  He 
was  not  a  striker,  and  not  within  one  hundred 
yards  of  railroad  property  when  murdered. 

"  Of  the  wounded  five  were  women,  one  of 
whom  looses  an  arm  and  another  a  leg.  Six  were 
boys  under  nineteen  years  of  age,  and  one  was  a 
baby. 

"The  points  which  these  facts  demonstrate,  is 
that  the  rioting  is  not  the  work  of  members  of  the 
American  Railway  Union,  or  in  fact  of  working- 
men  of  any  organization,  but  the  acts  of  toughs 
and  pluguglies  and  boisterous  boys,  with  w^hom 
this  city  like  other  large  cities,  abound.  Though 
the  crowd  looks  large  and  dangerous,  the  actual 
number  of  combatants  is  comparatively  small, 
and  the  clubs  of  the  police  instead  of  the  bullets 
and  bayonets  of  the  soldiers,  would  have  been  the 
proper  weapons  to  use.  Then  Chicago  would  not 
have  been  disgraced  by  shedding  the  blood  of 
women  and  children  and  taking  innocent  lives." 


70  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

On  July  6,  Mr.  Debs  issued  the  following  clear 
and  succinct  statement  of  the  causes  and  status  of 
the  present  condition  of  affairs  : 

"To  the  public: — So  many  misleading  reports 
have  been  given  currency  in  reference  to  the  great 
railroad  strike  now  in  progress  that  I  am 
prompted,  in  the  interest  of  justice  and  fair  play, 
to  give  the  public  an  honest,  impartial  statement 
of  the  issues  involved  and  the  facts  as  they  actu- 
ally exist.  My  purpose  in  this  is  to  have  the  great 
American  public — the  plain  people — in  every  ave- 
nue of  life  conversant  with  the  situation  as  it 
really  is,  that  they  who  constitute  the  highest 
tribunal  we  know,  may  pass  judgment  upon  our 
acts,  condemn  us  if  we  are  wrong,  and  uphold  us 
if  we  art  right. 

"First  of  all  let  it  be  said  that  the  Pullman 
employes  who  struck  May  6th,  last,  did  so 
entirely  of  their  own  accord. 

"Their  action  in  so  doing  was  spontaneous 
and  unammous.  They  simply  revolted  against 
a  series  of  deepseated  wrongs  of  long  standing, 
and  no  power  could  stay  them.  It  has  been 
charged,  and  the  charge  has  been  widely  accep- 
ted, that  they  were  induced  to  strike  by  their 
"leaders"  and  labor  agitators;  that  if  left  alone 


THE  PULLMAN   BOYCOTT. 


71 


they  would  have  remained  at  work.    The  charge 
is  whoU}^  untrue. 

"The  fact  is  that  the  officers  of  the  American 
Railway  Union  used  all  their  influence  to  pacify 
the  employes  and  advised  them  repeatedly  not 
to  strike,  but  to  bear  patiently  their  grievances 
until  a  peaceable  settlement  could  be  effected.  To 
the  truth  of  this  statement  the  employes  them- 
selves will  bear  willing  testimony. 

"But  the  grievances  of  the  employes,  men  and 
women,  had  become  so  aggravated,  so  galling, 
that  patience  deserted  them,  and  they  abandoned 
their  employment  rather  than  to  submit  longer 
to  conditions  against  which  their  very  souls 
revolted.  Whether  they  were  right  or  not,  let 
only  those  judge  who  comprehend  the  condi- 
tions under  which  these  faithful  employes  toiled 
and  groaned.  Let  us  avoid  sentiment.  The 
bare  facts  will  suffice,  and  they  are  haggard 
enough  to  excite  the  sympathy  of  CA^ery  good 
citizen,  rich  or  poor,  employer  or  employed. 

"The  Pullman  company,  be  it  understood 
owns  the  town  of  Pullman,  owns  the  houses, 
the  homes  of  employes,  controls  the  light  and 
water,  and  other  necessaries  of  life,  and  wages 
are   so   adjusted  to   living  expends  that  in  a 


72  THE  PULLMAN  BYYCOTT. 

large  majority  of  cases  the  employes  are  barely 
able  to  support  their  families.  .  Proof  overwhelm- 
ing can  be  furnished.  One  instance  will  suffice. 
At  the  time  they  struck  the  employes  were  in 
arrears  to  the  Pullman  company  $70,000  for 
rent  alone.  Wages  had  been  repeatedly  reduced 
but  rent  and  other  expenses  had  remained  the 
same. 

"At  this  rate  it  would  be  a  question  of  a 
short  time  only  until  the  employes  would  have 
been  hopelessly  involved  in  debt,  mortgaged 
soul  and  body  to  the  Pullman  company. 

"The  employes  from  the  beginning,  have 
been  willing  to  arbitrate  their  differences  with 
the  company.  That  is  their  position  to-day. 
The  company  arrogantly  declares  that  there  is 
nothing  to  arbitrate.  If  this  be  true  why  not 
allow  a  board  of  fair  and  impartial  arbitrators 
to  determine  the  fact? 

"At  this  point  we  appeal  to  the  public  as  to 
whether  the  position  of  the  employes  is  entitled 
to  the  sanction  of  the  public  conscience.  If  the 
employes  were  to  assume  the  position  of  the 
Pullman  company  and  defiantly  declare  they 
had  nothing  to  arbitrate,  and  arbitrarily  de- 
mand unconditional  surrender  as  the  only  basis 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  73 

of  settlement  they  would  merit  the  condemna- 
tion of  the  public  and  it  would  certainly  and 
swiftly  fall  upon  them  with  crushing  severity. 
Committee  after  committee  waited  upon  the 
officials  of  the  Pullman  company  with  the  vain 
hope  of  effecting  a  settlement.  They  were  will- 
ing to  make  concessions,  to  compromise  in  the 
interest  of  peace.  All  their  advances  were  re- 
pelled. 

"The  company  was,  and  is,  unjdelding  as 
adamant.'  Finally,  June  12th,  the  delegates  of 
the  American  Railway  Union,  representing  425 
local  unions  of  railway  employes  located  on  the 
principal  lines  of  American  railways,  met  in  con- 
vention at  Chicago.  The  Pullman  trouble  had 
been  discussed  at  their  local  meetings.  Many  of 
the  delegates  came  instructed.  The  grievences  of 
the  Pullman  employes  were  taken  under  consid- 
eration, and  two  separate  committees  were  sent 
to  the  officials. 

"Not  the  slightest  satisfaction  could  be  ob- 
tained. As  a  last  resort  the  delegates  by  a 
unanimous  vote  determined  that  unless  the  Pull- 
man company  would  agree  to  do  justice  to 
their  employes  within  five  days,  the  members 
of  the  order  would  refuse  to  haul  Pullman  cars. 


1*4  T^HE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

This  action  be  it  remembered,  was  not  taken 
until  tHe  strike  had  been  on  six  weeks,  and  every 
conceivable  effort  to  obtain  redress  had  failed 
because  of  the  obstinacy  of  the  company. 

"Up  to  this  time  the  trouble  had  been  con- 
fined to  the  Pullman  company  and  its  employes. 
How,  then,  did  the  strike  extend  to  the  rail- 
ways? Let  the  answer  be  given  in  accordance 
with  the  facts.  The  day  before  the  order  of  the 
delegates  declining  to  haul  Pullman  cars,  went 
into  effect,  the  General  Managers'  association, 
representing  the  principal  Western  railways, 
met  and  passed  a  series  of  resolutions,  declar- 
ing in  substance  that  they  would  uphold 
the  Pullman  company  in  its  fight  upon  the 
employes,  that  they  would  haul  Pullman 
cars  and  that  they  would  stand  together 
in  crushing  out  the  American  Railway  Union. 
The  resolutions  in  question  were  published 
in  the  city  papers  and  can  be  referred  to 
in  substantiation  of  this  averment.  It  will  thus 
be  seen  that  the  railway  companies  virtually 
joined  forces  with  the  Pullman  company,  went 
into  partnership  with  them  so  to  speak,  to  re- 
duce and  defeat  their  half  starved  employes.  In 
this  way  the  trouble  was    extended  from  line  to 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  75 

line,  and  from  s^^stem  to  system  until  a  crisis 
has  been  reached.  The  business  of  the  country 
is  demoralized  to  an  extent  that  defies  exaggera- 
tion. 

"To  say  that  the  situation  is  alarming 
is  entireh^  within  the  bounds  of  prudent  state- 
ment. Every  good  citizen  must  view  the  out- 
look with  grave  concern. 

Something  should,  something  must  be  done. 
The  American  people  are  a  peace-loving  people— 
they  want  neither  anarchy  or  revolution.  They 
have  faith  in  their  institutions,  they  believe  in  law 
and  order,  they  believe  in  good  government,  but 
they  also  believe  in  fair  play.  Once  aroused  they 
will  not  tolerate  arbitrary  and  dictatorial  defi- 
ance, even  on  the  part  of  an  alliance  of  rich  and 
powerful  corporations. 

What  can  be  done  to  dispel  the  apprehension 
that  now  prevails,  and  restore  peace  and  confid- 
ence? The  American  Railwa\'  Union  on  whose 
authorit\^  and  in  whose  behalf  this  statement  is 
made,  stands  ready,  has  from  the  beginning  stood 
readv,  to  do  anything  in  its  power,  provided  it  is 
honorable'to  end  this  trouble. 

This,  briefly  stated,  is  the  position  the  org- 
anization occupies.      It  simply  insists  that    the 


76  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Pullman  Company  shall  meet  its  employes  and  do 
them  justice.  We  guarantee  that  the  latter  will 
accept  any  reasonable  proposition. 

*'  The  company  may  act  through  its  officials  or 
otherwise,  and  the  employes  through  their  chosen 
representatives.  Let  them  agree  as  far  as  they 
can,  and  where  they  fail  to  agree,  let  the  points  in 
dispute  be  subjected  to  arbitration.  The  question 
of  the  recognition  of  the  Americon  Railway  Union 
or  any  other  organisation  is  waived.  We  do  not 
ask,  nor  have  we  ever  asked  for  a  recognition  as 
an  organization.  We  care  nothing  about  that, 
and  so  far  as  we  are  concerned  it  has  no  part  in 
the  controversy.  Let  the  officials  deal  with  the 
employes  without  reference  to  organizations.  Let 
the  spirit  of  conciliation,  mutual  concession,  and 
compromise  animate  and  govern  both  sides,  and 
there  will  be  no  trouble  in  reaching  a  settlement 
that  will  be  satisfactory  to  all  concerned. 

"This  done  let  the  railway  companies  agree  to 
restore  all  their  employes  to  their  situations  w^ith- 
out  prejudice  and  the  trouble  will  be  ended.  The 
crisis  will  thus  be  averted,  traffic  will  resume 
and  peace  will  reign.  The  railways  are  not  re- 
quired to  recognize  the  American  Railway  Union. 
This  has  never  been  asked  nor  is  it  asked  now. 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  77 

"If  there  are  those  who  discoYer  in  this  state- 
ment a  'weakening'  on  the  part  of  the  employes, 
as  has  been  so  often  charged  when  an  exposition 
of  the  true  attitude  of  our  order  was  attempted, 
we  have  only  to  say  that  they  are  welcome  to 
such  solace  as  such  a  perverted  conclusion  af- 
fords them.  We  have  been  deliberately  and  mali- 
ciously misrepresented,  but  we  have  borne  it  all 
with  an  unwavering  faith  that  the  truth  will 
finally  and  powerfully  prevail.  We  firmly  believe 
our  cause  is  just,  and  while  we  hold  that  belief, 
we  will  not  recede.  If  we  are  w^rong  we  are 
ready  to  to  be  convinced.  We  are  open  to  rea- 
son and  to  conviction,  but  we  will  not  be 
cowed  or  intimitated.  Were  we  to  sacrifice 
the  multiplied  thousands  of  wageworkers  who 
have  committed  their  interests  to  our  hands 
and  yield  to  the  pressure  of  corporate  power, 
we  would  be  totally  unworthy  of  American  cit- 
izenship. 

"It  may  be  asked  what  sense  is  their  in  svm- 
pathetic  strikes.      Let  the  corporations    answer. 

"When  one  is  assailed  all  go  to  the  rescue. 
They  stand  together;  they  support  each  other 
with  men,  money  and  equipments.  Labor,  in 
unifying  its  forces,  simply  follows  their  example. 


78  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

The  corporations  established  a  precedent.  If 
the  proceeding  is  vicious  and  indefensible  let 
them  first  abolish  it. 

"In  this  contest  labor  will  stand  by  labor. 
Other  organizations  of  workingmen  have  them- 
selves felt  the  oppressive  hand  of  corporate  cap- 
ital. They  will  not  be  called  out,  but  will  go 
out.  And  the  spectacle  of  Mr.  Pullman,  fanned 
by  the  breezes  of  the  seashore  while  his  em- 
ployes are  starving,  is  not  calculated  to  prevent 
their  fellow  wageworkers  from  going  to  their 
rescue  by  their  only  means  at  their  command. 

"A  few  words  io  reference  to  myself,  although 
ordinarily  I  pay  no  attention  to  misrepresent- 
ation or  vituperation,  may  not  be  out  of  place, 
not  because  of  myself  personally,  but  on  account 
of  the  cause  I  have  the  honor  to  in  part  repre- 
sent, which  may  suffer  if  silence  is  maintained 
while  it  is  assailed  with  falsehood  and  malig- 
nant detraction.  I  shirk  no  responsibility, 
neither  do  I  want  credit  to  which  I  am  not  en- 
titled. This  strike  was  not  'ordered'  by  myself  nor 
by  any  other  individual.  I  have  never  '  ordered ' 
nor  'called'  anybody  out.  Under  the  rules  of 
the  American  Railway  Union  members  can  only 
strike  when  a  majority  of  the  members  so  decide. 


*  '  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  79 

"The  votes  of  the  delegates  in  this  instance 
was  unanimous,  and  where  ever  men  have  struck 
the  J  did  so  of  their  own  accord.  I  have  simply 
served  the  notice  after  the  men  themselves  had 
determined  to  go  out. 

"This  is  the  extent  of  my  authority  and 
I  have  never  exceeded  it.  My  alleged  author- 
ity to  'call'  or  'order'  out  has  been  made  the 
pretext  on  which  to  assail  me  with  every  slander 
that  malignity  could  conceive.  So  far  as  I  am 
personally  concerned,  detraction  cannot  harm  me, 
nor  does  it  matter  if  it  could.  I  do  not  amount 
to  more  than  the  humblest  member  of  our  order 
— perhaps  not  as  much.  Fate  or  fortune  has  as- 
signed me  a  duty,  and,  no  matter  how  trying 
the  ordeal  or  severe  the  penalties  I  propose  to 
perform  it.  The  reflection  that  an  honest  man 
has  nothing  to  fear  sustains  and  comforts  me  in 
every  hour  of  trial. 

"  In  closing  let  me  repeat  that  we  stand  ready 
to  do  our  part  toward  averting  the  impending 
crisis.  We  have  no  false  pride  to  stand  in  the 
way  of  a  statement.  We  do  not  want  official 
recognition.  All  we  ask  is  fair  play  for  the  men 
who  have  chosen  us  to  represent  them. 

"If  the  corporations  refuse  to  yield  aud  stub'- 


80  THE   PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

bornly  maintain  that  there  is  'nothing  to  arbi- 
trate, '  the  responsibility  of  what  may  ensue  will 
be  upon  their  heads,  and  they  cannot  escape  its 
penalties. 

Eugene  Y.  Debs." 


CHAPTER   IX. 


SLAUGHTER    OF    CITIZENS. 


The  situation  at  Hammond,  Ind.,  would 
compare  favorably  with  Chicago  in  so  far  as 
the  wanton  shooting  of  innocent  citizens  was  con- 
cerned. The  town  had  become  infested  with  a 
gang  of  toughs  from  Chicago,  who  overturned 
a  number  of  box  cars  and  blocked  the  passage 
of  trains.  About  noon  of  July  8th,  the  U.  S. 
troops  arrived,  and  their  appearance  attracted 
large  crowds  of  citizens  on  the  streets,  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  railroad  tracks.  The  troops  who 
were  ensconsed  in  passenger  cars  were  being 
hauled  up  and  down  the  track,  when  a  gang  of 
toughs  attempted  to  overturn  a  Pullman  coach. 
The  soldiers,  who  could  easily  have  left  the 
coaches  and  placed  the  lawbreakers  under  arrest 
opened  fire,  but  strange  to  say  these  sharpshoot- 
ers, under  instructions  to  shoot  to  kill,  did  not 
wound  even  one  of  the  lawless  rioters.  Not  so, 
however,  with  the  citizens  who  were  walking 
along  the  street  and  had    no   connection  what- 

6  81 


82  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

ever  with  the  mob.  Charles  Fleischer,  who  lived 
near  with  his  wife  and  five  children,  walked 
down  the  street  in  search  of  his  little  son,  when 
without  a  moment's  warning  he  fell  to  the 
ground  a  corpse  pierced  with  a  law  and  order 
bullet.  This  man  had  no  connection  whatever 
with  the  riot  nor  even  with  the  strike. 

Miss  Flemming,  of  Chicago,  who  was  visit- 
ing friends  in  Hammond  was  on  the  street 
when  the  shooting  occured  and  was  seri- 
ously injured  by  a  shot  in  the  knee.  Wm. 
Campbell,  Victor  Dizuttner  and  an  unknown 
man  were  also  shot  and  seriously  injured  by  the 
regulars  without  the  slightest  provocation. 

These  people  had  no  connection  with  the 
rioters,  were  citizens  of  Hammond,  and  not  on 
railroad  property. 

Bullets  crashed  through  frame  walls,  and  I 
was  told  by  a  man  whose  head  was  grazed  by  a 
bullet  while  in  his  room,  that  nothing  short  of 
a  miracle  saved  many  persons  from  being  shot 
down  in  their  own  dwellings. 

Mayor  Reily  whose  anger  knew  no  bounds, 
after  the  killing  rushed  to  the  telegraph  office 
and  wired  Governor  Matthews,  asking  if  mar- 
tial law  had  been  proclaimed.     I  should  like  to 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  83 

know,  he  said,  by  what  authority  the  U.  S. 
troops  come  to  our  city  and  shoot  down  our 
citizens  without  the  slightest  warning. 

Immediately  after  the  fatal  occurance,  A. 
Shields  and  Dr.  F.  E.  Bell,  representing  the  citi- 
zens of  Hammond,  wired  Governor  Matthews 
the  following  message :  "  Federal  troops  shooting 
down  citizens  promisciously  and  without  pro- 
vocation. Cannot  something  be  done  to  protect 
citizens?    Act  quickly." 

The  governor  replied  that  he  had  sent 
troops  to  restore  order,  enforce  law,  and  pro- 
tect lives  of  law  abiding  citizens.  Lawlessness 
and  rioting  must  be  suppressed.  Citizens  obey- 
ing law  had  nothing  to  fear. 

Was  ever  military  despotism  more  thoroughly 
demonstrated  ?  What  further  proof  was  neces- 
sary than  the  reply  of  the  chief  executive  of  the 
state,  to  the  citizens,  that  they  were  at  the 
mere}'-  of,  and  subject  to  the  arrogant  brutality  of 
military  despotism.  The  governor  in  his  reply  said: 
"Citizens  obeying  law  have  nothing  to  fear,  that 
lawlessness  must  be  surpressed. "  According  to 
that  we  can  only  arrive  at  one  conclusion ;  that 
the  persons  overturning  cars  and  destroying 
property   were    obeying   the   law,  as   they  were 


84  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

not  shot  down  nor  were  they  arrested,  but  on 
the  other  hand  peaceable  citizens  who  were  in  no 
way  connected  with  the  rioting,  were  shot  and 
maimed  by  the  troops. 

The  people  were  beginning  to  regard  the 
law  with  suspicion,  they  no  longer  felt  that 
sense  of  security,  the  implicit  confidence,  they 
were  wont  to  place  in  the  constitution.  The 
law  of  to-day,  if  the  interests  of  the  railroad 
corporations  so  required,  would  be  reversed  to- 
morrow. Under  those  circumstances  could  it  be 
wondered  that  the  people  were  beginning  to 
lose  the  respect  that  had  been  accorded  the 
law,  and  to  which  it  was  entitled  ?  Could  it  be 
wondered  that  they  became  restless  and  exhibited 
signs  of  revolting  [^against  such  damnable  brut- 
ality, and  the  indignities  to  which  they  were 
subjected  under  the  guise  of  the  law? 

Cleveland  was  now  beginning  to  fear,  that 
in  his  eagerness  to  assist  the  railroads  in  crush- 
ing the  strikers  he  had  overreached  himself  and 
the  wonton  murder  of  citizens,  he  feared,  might 
have  a  damaging  effect  on  his  future  political 
plans.  His  uneasiness  was  quite  apparent,  while 
on  the  other  hand  his  co-conspirator,  Olney,  was 
in  a   happy  state  of  mind.     He  claimed  to   be 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  85 

able  with  the  anti-trust  bill,  to  break  up  every 
labor  union  in  America. 

The  general  managers,  finding  out  that  the 
city  would  not  be  held  responsible  for  the  loss 
of  and  damage  to  railroad  property,  were  now 
in  favor  of  removing  the  troops  from  the  citj--  of 
Chicago — but  knowing  the  effect  of  such  action 
after  making  an  appeal  for  their  assistance— did 
not  ask  for  their  removal. 

The  situation  throughout  the  country  had 
not  materially  changed,  and  the  prospects  for  a 
final  victory  for  the  strikers  looked  very  favor- 
ably. 

General  Miles  circulated  a  story  that  ninety 
per  cent  of  the  citizens  of  Chicago  were  in  sym- 
pathy wath  the  Pullman  company  and  the  rail- 
roads. 

The  railway"  managers  took  advantage  of 
this  report  and  spread  and  distorted  it  in  order 
to  discourage  the  strikers. 

Now  for  facts :  The  trades  unions  of  Chicago 
alone  represent  750,000  people,  adding  to  this 
the  membership  of  the  railway  unions  you  have 
a  total  of  900,000  or  ninety  per  cent  of  the 
citizens,  who  were  in  direct  sympathy  with  the 
strikers.      And   it    was    not    confined   to    mem- 


86  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

bers  of  Unions  alone;  such  men  as  Bishop 
Fallaws,  Rev.  Dr.  Henson,  Prof.  E.  W. 
Bennis,  Rev.  G.  P.  Brushingham,  Rev.  W.  H.  Car- 
vardine,  Mayor  Hopkins  and  hosts  of  other  men 
prominent  in  the  affairs  of  the  city  endorsed  the 
men  and  denounced  the  railroad  corporations. 

Resolutions  by  the  score  were  passed  by 
business  men,  by  the  Typographical  Unions  and 
other  organizations  endorsing  the  American  Rail- 
way Union,  and  denouncing  Pullman  and  the 
railroads,  also  condemning  the  action  of  Grover 
Cleveland  in  upholding  the  corporations  against 
the  workingmen. 

Resolutions  were  passed  requesting  all  sym- 
pathizers to  wear  a  white  ribbon,  the  badge 
adopted  by  the  American  Railway  Union,  and 
the  sea  of  white  ribbons  to  be  seen  in  Chicago 
would  not  bear  out  the  statement  of  Gen. 
Miles. 

The  labor  unions  now  signified  their  willing- 
ness to  strike  in  support  of  the  movement  if 
called  upon  by  the  American  Railway  Union. 

Grover  Cleveland  at  this  time  issued  a  pro- 
clamation w^hich-^to  all  intents  and  purposes — 
declared  martial  law  in  the  city  of  Chicago. 
This  was  what  Gen  Miles  desired,   as    it     virtu- 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  87 

ally  gave  him  full  power  to  rule  with  despotic 
sway  over  the  citizens  and  civil  authorities. 

The  following  protest  was  wired  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  by  President  Debs,  of 
the  American  Railway  Union  and  Grand  Master 
Sovereign  of  the  Knights  of  Labor. 

"To  the  Hon.  Grover  Cleveland,  President  of 
the  United  States,  Executive  Mansion,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. 

"Dear  Sir: — Through  along  period  of  depres- 
sion, enforced  idleness  and  low  wages,  resulting 
in  wide  spread  poverty,  and  in  many  cases  act- 
ual starvation,  the  working  people  have  been 
patient,  patriotic  and  law  abiding,  and  not  until 
the  iron  heel  of  corporate  tyranny  was  applied 
with  the  intention  to  subjugate  the  working 
people  to  the  will  of  arrogant  monopolies,  did 
they  make  any  effort  to  stay  their  oppressors. 

"The  Pullman  strike  was  not  declared  until 
the  employes  of  the  Pullman  company  were 
driven  to  the  verge  of  starvation,  their  entreat- 
ies spurned  with  contempt,  and  their  grievances 
denied  a  hearing.  No  refusal  to  handle  Pullman 
cars  was  declared  by  any  railway  emploj'e  un- 
til all  propositions  looking  towards  arbitration 
and  conciliation  were   rejected   by   the    Pullman 


88  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

company.  Notwithstanding  the  truths  set  forth 
above  were  known  to  the  public  and  the  na- 
tional authorities,  you  have  seen  fit  under  guise  of 
protecting  the  mails  and  federal  property  to  in- 
voke the  services  of  the  United  States  armj^ 
whose  very  presence  is  used  to  coerce  and  intim- 
idate peaceable  working  people  into  a  humiliat- 
ing obedience  to  the  will  of  their  oppressors. 

"By  your  acts,  insofar  as  you  have  supplanted 
civil  and  state  authorities  with  the  federal  mili- 
tary power,  the  spirit  of  unrest  and  distrust  has 
so  far  been  augmented  that  a  deep  seated  con- 
viction is  fast  becoming  prevalent  that  this  gov- 
ernment is  soon  to  become  a  military  despotism. 
The  transmission  of  the  United  States  mails  is 
not  interupted  by  the  striking  employes  of  any 
railway  company,  but  by  the  railway  companies 
themselves,  who  refused  to  haul  the  mail  on 
trains  to  which  Pullman  cars  were  not  attached. 
If  it  is  a  criminal  interference  wnth  the  United 
States  mails  for  the  employes  of  a  railway  com- 
pany to  detach  from  a  mail  train  a  Pullman 
palace  car,  contrary  to  the  will  of  the  company 
then  it  holds  true  that  it  is  the  same  criminal  in- 
terference whenever  a  Pullman  palace  car  is  de- 
tached from  a  mail  train  in  accordance  with  the 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  89 

will  of  a  railroad  company  while  said  mail  train 
is  in  transit.  The  line  of  criminalty  in  such  a 
case  should  not  be  drawn  at  the  willingness  or 
unwillingness  of  railway  employes,  but  at  the 
act  itself,  and  inasmuch  as  it  has  been  the  com- 
mon practice  of  railway  corporations  to  attach 
and  detach  from  mail  trains  Pullman  palace 
cars  at  will  while  said  trains  are  in  transit  and 
carrying  the  mails  of  the  United  States,  it  would 
seem  an  act  of  discrimation  against  the  employes 
of  the  railwaj'  corporations  to  declare  such  acts 
unlawful  interference  with  the  transmission  of 
the  mails  when  done  by  employes  with  or  with- 
out the  consent  of  their  employers. 

"In  view  of  these  facts  we  look  upon  the  far- 
fetched decision  of  Attorney  General  Olney,  the 
sweeping  un-American  injunctions  against  rail- 
way employes,  and  the  movements  of  the  regular 
army  as  employing  the  powers  of  the  general 
government  for  the  support  and  protection  of 
the  railway  corporations  in  their  determination 
to  degrade  and  oppress  their  employes. 

"The  present  railway  strike  was  precipitated 
by  the  uneasy  desire  of  the  railway  corporations 
to  destroy  the  organizations  of  their  employes 
and  make   the  working  people   more  subservent 


90  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

to  the  will  of  their  employers;  and  as  all 
students  of  government  agree  that  free  institu- 
tions depend  for  their  perpetuity  upon  the  free- 
dom and  prosperity  of  the  common  people,  it 
would  seem  more  in  consonance  with  the  spirit 
of  democratic  government  if  federal  authority 
was  exercised  in  deference  of  the  rights  of  the 
toiling  masses  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness.  But  on  the  contrary  there  is  not  an 
instance  on  record  where  in  any  conflict  between 
corporations  and  the  people  the  strong  arm  of 
the  military  power  has  been  employed  to  pro- 
tect the  working  people  and  the  industrial 
masses  from  the  ravage  and  persecution  of  cor- 
porate greed.  But  the  measure  of  character  has 
been  in  the  line  of  declaring  the  corporations 
always  good  and  in  the  right,  and  the  working 
people  always  bad  and  in  the  wrong. 

"Now,  sir,  we  pledge  to  you  the  power  of  our 
respective  organizations,  individually  and  collec- 
tively, for  the  maintenance  of  peace  and  good 
order  and  the  preservation  of  life  and  property, 
and  will  aid  in  the  arrest  and  punishment  of  all 
violators  of  the  civil  and  criminal  laws  of  the 
state  or  nation.  In  the  present  contest  between 
labor   and  railway  corporations    we   shall  use 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  91 

every  peaceable  and  honorable  means  at  our 
command  consistent  with  the  law  and  our  con- 
stitutional rights,  to  secure  for  the  working 
people  just  compensation  for  labor  done  and  re- 
spectable consideration  in  accordance  with  the 
inherent  rights  of  all  men  and  the  spirit  of  repub- 
lican government.  In  doing  so  we  appeal  to  all 
the  liberty  loving  people  of  the  nation  to  aid 
and  support  us  in  this  most  just  and  righteous 
cause. 

By  Eugene  V.  Debs, 
"Order  of  Knights  of  Labor,  President. 

By  J,  R.  Sovereign, 

Grand  Master  Workman." 


CHAPTER    X. 

BUSINESS    men's    PROTEST. 

The  town  of  Danville,  111,,  was  now  visited 
by  martial  law  with  the  result  that  two  women 
were  killed  and  two  men  fatally  wounded.  A 
non-union  brakeman  fired  three  shots  into  a 
crowd  that  was  jeering  him,  whereupon  some 
one  in  the  crowd  returned  the  fire  hitting  him 
in  the  neck.  The  militia  then  opened  fire,  killing 
a  Mrs.  Glennon  who  was  standing  in  her  own 
yard  and  Miss  James  seated  at  the  organ  in  her 
own  house.  This  was  the  effect  of  federal 
troops  in  Danville,  and  so  it  was  in  every  town 
and  city  where  Grover's  minions  were  stationed. 
The  damnable  outrages  perpetrated  on  the  peo- 
ple of  the  commonweal  by  the  federal  troops 
under  the  guize  of  law  and  order  was  goading 
the  citizens  to  a  state  of  open  rebellion.  The 
business  men  of  Chicago  fearing  a  general  out- 
break determined  on  sending  a  committee  to  the 
Pullman  company  with  a  view  to  reaching  a 
settlement  whereby  this  dire  calamity  would  be 

92 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  93 

averted.  A  committee  was  formed  composed  of 
representative  business  men,  members  of  the 
city  council,  and  members  of  the  various  trades 
of  the  city.  The  committee  met  with  no  suc- 
cess. 

Mr.  Wicks,  who  represented  the  Pullman 
company,  informed  them  that  the  company  had 
nothing  to  arbitrate  and  wished  to  see  no  com- 
mittee. The  proposition  they  wished  to  submit 
to  Mr.  Wickes  as  the  representative  of  the  Pull- 
man company  was  this :  That  Mr.  Pullman  had 
said  there  was  nothing  to  arbitrate  while  the 
men  contented  that  there  was.  Let  the  Pull- 
man company  appoint  two  men  and  the  circuit 
court  two  men.  Let  these  four  select  a  fifth,  it 
necessary,  to  determine  if  there  was  anything  to 
arbitrate  and  in  case  there  was,  that  would 
take  care  of  itself  later.  If  not,  the  strike  would 
end  just  as  soon  as  the  decision  was  reached. 
Surely  this  proposition  was  fair  and  manty  but 
speaking  for  the  Pullman  company  Mr.  Wickes 
flatly  refused  to  entertain  it  for  an  instant. 
Alderman  McGillen,  who  acted  as  sjDokesman, 
then  made  an  eloquent  plea  for  the  Pullman 
company  to  take  steps,  which  he  considered 
would  go  far  toward   settling   the    strike.      He 


94  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

said:  "Mr.  Wickes  we  received  a  request  from 
the  trades-unions  —  their  representatives  v^ho 
are  now  here  you  have  already  met — to  see  if 
some  means  to  settle  this  strike  peaceably  could 
not  be  found. 

"It  has  been  demonstrated  that  your  com- 
pany had  no  subject  for  arbitration,  that  the 
request  of  the  employes  for  arbitration  could 
not  be  acceeded  to?" 

Mr.  Wickes:     "Yes,  sir." 

Aid.  McGillen:  "We  are  here  to  suggest  that 
it  might  be  possible  to  obviate  all  differences 
between  the  company  and  the  men — strikers, 
ex-employes,  or  whatever  you  wish  to  call  them. 
We  would  suggest  a  committee  to  ascertain 
whether  there  is  any  matter  needing  arbitration 
as  you  are  a  quasi  public. " 

Mr.  Wickes,  interupting:  "Do  you  come  as 
representatives  of  the  city  instructed  by  the 
mayor?  We  have  nothing  to  arbitrate,  the 
Pullman  company  cannot  recede  from  its  posi- 
tion. " 

Aid.  O'Brien :    "  There  must  be  some  trouble  ?  " 

Mr.  Wickes:  "Our  men  made  complaint,  we 
promised  to  investigate,  but  before  we  had  time 
to  do  so  they  struck,  " 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  95 

■  Aid.  O'Brien:  "But  that  will  not  settle  the 
matter. " 

Mr.  Wickes:     "Unfortunately  not." 

Aid.  McGillen:  "We  suggest  that  this  com- 
mittee be  made  up  of  representative  men,  the 
best  men  in  Chicago,  men  who  occupy  positions 
of  honor. " 

Here  attorney  John  S.  Runnell  appeared  and 
w^as  closeted  with  Mr.  Wickes  for  a  quarter  ol 
an  hour. 

On  his  return  to  the  room  Mr.  Wickes  said 
that  neither  the  Pullman  company  or  the  rail- 
way manager's  association  created  the  situation 
of  to-day.  When  our  men  went  out  w^e  told 
them  that  we  could  not  do  the  work  at  the  scale 
of  wages  we  were  paying.  W^e  had  contracts  to  fill 
then,  some  of  them  we  let  out  and  some  we  re- 
tained. No  men  can  arbitrate  this,  you,  as  busi- 
ness men  W'Ould  let  no  man  say  how  that  busi- 
ness should  be  conducted. 

Aid.  McGillen  then  said:  "You  require  pro- 
tection from  us.  You  call  on  the  police,  on  the 
county,  on  the  state,  and  on  the  nation  for  pro- 
tection. Y''our  only  valued  assets  are  the  pat- 
ents which  the  nation  gives  you  in  recognition 
of   the    genius   which    built   the    Pullman    car. 


96  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Remove  that  asset  and  you  are  ruined.  You 
utterly  ignor  our  request.  It  is  not  dishonor- 
able .men  we  ask  to  investigate  your  affairs. 
Think  of  the  sickness,  starvation,  want,  disaster 
and  bloodshed  which  is  coming  if  the  strike  as- 
sumes larger  proportions.  The  climax  is  fast 
approaching  and  who  will  be  to  blame.  I  am 
hear  for  the  common  weal,  and  I  hope  and  beg 
of  you  not  to  refuse." 

Mr.  Wickes:  "There  is  a  principle  involved. 
Every  business  should  have  the  right  to  dictate 
to  its  own  labor,  we  will  brook  no  interference, 
national,  state,  county  or  municipal. " 

Aid.  McGillen:  "Compulsory  arbitration  is 
not  a  law  but  it  will  be  if  this  strike  does  not 
stop." 

Mr.  Wickes :    "We  have  nothing  to  arbitrate." 

Aid.  Warreinner:  "We  are  not  asking  for 
arbitration  we  want  a  committee  appointed  to 
see  if  there  is  need  of  it.  Will  you  consent  to 
that?" 

Mr.  Wickes:    "No." 

Aid.  McGillen:  "In  the  name  of  humanity 
let  me  beseech  you  to  reconsider  your  negation." 

Mr.  Wickes:  "Gentlemen,  the  Pullman  com- 
pany has  nothing  to  arbitrate  we  want  to  see 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  97 

no  committee,  the  Pullman  company  cannot 
recede  from  its  position.    This  is  final." 

When  the  committee  met  again  at  4:30  to  make 
its  final  report,  it  was  completely  discouraged. 
Mr.  Elderkin  stated  the  proposition  that  had 
been  made  to  the  Pullman  company  and  its 
direct  refusal.  The  alderman  begged  the  labor 
representatives  not  to  strike  and  cause  wide- 
spread sufiering. 

The  general  manager's  and  Pullman's  posi- 
tion was  so  clearly  defined  that  it  would  be  im- 
possible for  the  public  to  fail  to  see  it  in  any 
but  its  true  light. 

The  companies  were  losing  millions  of  dol- 
lars but  the  general  managers  had  determined  if 
necessary  to  bankrupt  every  s^-stem  in  the  United 
States  in  order  to  crush  labor  organizations  out 
of  existence.  The  Pullman  matter  was  some- 
thing of  the  past  with  them  they  w^ere  after  the 
labor  organizations,  and  they  were  after  them 
with  a  vengence. 

The  government  was  backing  them.  The 
attorney  general  of  the  United  states, —  a  cor- 
poration attomc}^  as  well, — had  pledged  himself 
to  disrupt  every  labor  organization  in  the 
country.      President  Cleveland  another  railroad 


98  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

attorney  had  encouraged  and  abetted  them  to 
the  same  end. 

With  the  subsidized  press,  the  bankers  unions, 
tbe  moneycrat  manufacturers  and  the  federal 
courts  arrayed  against  them,  what  in  the  name 
of  justice  could  they  expect  ? 

Surely  the  martyred  president  and  savior  of 
mankind,  the  immortal  Lincoln,  must  have  anti- 
cipated the  present  deplorable  condition  when  in 
his  message  to  the  second  session  of  the  thirty- 
seventh  congress, —  to  be  found  in  the  appendix 
to  the  Congressional  Globe  of  the  thirty-seventh 
congress,  second  section,  page  4 — when  he  said: 
"Monarchy  itself  is  sometimes  hinted  at  as  a  pos- 
sible refuge  from  the  power  of  the  people.  In  my 
present  position  I  could  scarcely  be  justified  were 
I  to  omit  raising  a  warning  voice  against  this 
approach  of  returning  despotism.  It  is  not 
needed  nor  fitting  here  that  a  general  argument 
should  be  made  in  favor  of  popular  institutions, 
but  there  is  one  point  with  its  connections  not 
so  hackneyed  as  most  others  to  which  I  ask  a 
brief  attention.  It  is  the  effort  to  place  capital 
on  an  equal  footing  with,  if  not  above,  labor  in 
the  structure  of  government.  It  is  assumed 
that  labor  is  available  only  in  connection  with 


THE   PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  99 

capital,  that  nobody  labors  unless  somebody 
else  owning  capital  somehow  by  the  use  of  it 
induces  him  to  labor.  *  *  *  Labor  is 
prior  to  and  independant  of  capital.  Capital  is 
only  the  fruit  of  labor  and  could  never  have 
existed  if  labor  had  not  first  existed.  Labor  is 
the  superior  of  capital  and  deserves  much  the 
higher  consideration.  *  *  *  No  men 
living  are  more  worthy  to  be  trusted  than  those 
who  toil  up  from  poverty;  none  less  inclined  to 
take  or  touch  aught  which  they  have  not  earned. 
Let  them  beware  of  surrendering  a  political 
power  which  they  already  possess  and  which, 
if  surrendered,  will  surely  be  used  to  close  the 
door  of  advancement  against  such  as  they,  and 
to  fix  new  disabilities  and  burdens  upon  them 
till  all  of  liberty  shall  be  lost." 


CHAPTER  XI. 

INDICTMENT    OF    PRESIDENT    DEBS. 

The  railroad  managers  and  federal  courts 
were  leaving  no  stone  unturned  to  secure  the  in- 
dictment and  incarceration  of  Eugene  V.  Debs. 
If  successful,  it  was  their  intention  to  dispose  of 
all  the  officers  and  directors  of  the  American 
Railway  Union  in  the  same  manner. 

Attorney  General  Olney,  acting  for  the  rail- 
roads, was  hatching  a  scheme  to  incarcerate  the 
officers  of  the  union  and  refuse  them  bail.  At- 
torneys Walker  and  Milchrist  were  ready  to 
prove  that  Debs  ordered  the  boycott,  that  he  con- 
spired against  the  lives  and  liberty  of  the  people, 
that  he  conspired  to  overthro^v  the  government,  in 
short,  they  were  ready  to  prove  anything  that 
would  further  the  ends  of  the  corporations  which 
they  represented. 

These  diabolical  plotters  never  doubted  for 
one  instant  that  the  officers  of  the  American 
Railway  Union  were  innocent  of  the  charges  pre- 
ferred against  them.     They  knew  very  well  that 

100 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOT'T.  lOl 

they  (the  officers)  had  no  authority  to  order  a 
boycott  or  strike,  and  that  it  was  ordered  by  a 
majority  vote  of  the  men  employed  on  each  sj'S- 
tem.  They  also  knew  that  from  the  inaugura- 
tion of  the  strike,  not  one  word  or  act  of  Eugene 
V,  Debs  could  be  construed  into  an  offense  and 
make  him  amenable  to  the  law. 

That  he  counciled  moderation  and  appealed 
to  the  men  to  refrain  from  acts  of  violence  from 
the  start,  was  a  w-ell  known  fact.  This  was 
very  clear  to  them,  but  the  powerful  magnetism 
of  his  presence  in  restraining  the  men  from  acts 
of  violence  w^ould  also  have  a  tendency  to  keep 
their  ranks  firm  and  intact.  This  was  also 
known  to  them  and  they  must  device  some 
scheme  to  shackle  him  or  get  him  out  of  the  way. 
With  consummate  skill  they  proceeded  with  the 
avowed  effort  to  accomplish  this  end. 

At  3:00  p.  M,,  July  10,  the  special  grand  jury 
summoned  by  Judges  Wood  and  Grosscup  set 
the  machinery  of  federal  law  in  motion,  and  after 
one  hour  and  seven  minutes — most  of  which  time 
was  occupied  in  waiting  for  advice  from  the 
Western  Union  Telegraph  Co.,  in  New  York,  to 
its  manager  in  Chicago — returned  indictments 
against  E.  V.  Debs,  G.  W.  Howard,  L.  W.  Rogers 


102  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

and  Sylvester  Kelleher.  No  sooner  were  the  four 
officers  of  the  American  Railway  Union  indicted 
than  they  were  arrested  and  the  private  papers 
as  well  as  the  documents  of  the  union  were 
seized. 

The  four  men  were  admitted  to  bail  and  the 
joint  bond  of  $10,000  was  signed  by  J.  W.  Fitz- 
gerald and  Wm.  Skakel. 

The  special  grand  jurors  selected  by  the  court 
for  the  express  purpose  of  indicting  the  officers 
of  the  American  Railway  Union  were  well  chosen. 
An  elaborate  charge  from  his  honor,  the  judge,  a 
pretense  of  examining  a  lone  witness,  just  a 
farcial  formality,  and  Debs,  Howard,  Rogers 
and  Kelleher  were  indicted  Th^se  men  were 
virtually  indicted  before  the  grand  jury  went 
into  session,  this  is  a  fact  that  defies  contra- 
diction, Z.  E.  Holbrook,  one  of  the  jurors,  was 
a  man  who  two  years  ago  went  to  Home- 
stead, Pa.,  at  the  request  of  H.  C.  Frick,  man- 
ager of  the  Carnegie  Company,  and  after  obtain- 
ing a  supply  of  alleged  facts  from  Mr.  Frick,  re- 
turned to  Chicago  and  made  a  speech  before  the 
Sunset  Club,  in  which  he  charged  the  Homestead 
strikers  with  being  conspirators,  anarchists  and 
murderers,  and  he  denounced  and  abused  in   no 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  103 

measured  terms  all  labor  unions  and  S3'mpathiz- 
ers.  So  bitterly  did  he  attack  labor  that  be  was 
roundly  hissed  by  members  of  his  own  club. 

The  city  directory  sets  him  down  as  a  cap- 
italist, and  he  is  known  throughout  the  city  as 
a  bitter  enemy  to  labor  unions.  Such  is  the 
character  of  one  of  the  men  who  was  chosen  to 
indict  Eugene  V.  Debs.  Was  ever  court  of  justice 
so  utterly  debauched? 

What  has  become  of  our  boasted  liberty? 
Are  we  freemen  ?  No !  in  the  burning  words  of 
Rienzi,  the  Roman,  we  are  slaves,  the  bright  sun 
rises  to  its  course  and  sets  on  a  race  of  slaves. 
Slaves,  not  such  as  conqueror  led  to  crimson 
glory  and  undying  fame,  but  base,  ignoble  slaves, 
slaves  to  a  horde  of  petty  tyrants,  feudal  des- 
pots. 

The  same  conditions  that  eminated  these  im- 
mortal utterances  from  the  ancient  Roman  is  ab- 
solutely the  condition  of  the  working  people  of 
America  to-day. 

The   federal   courts    had   now    accomplished 
a  master  stroke ;  they  had  indicted  the  president 
of  the  American  Railwaj^  Union  for   conspiracy. 
When  the  wires  flashed  the  news  to  the  var- 
ious local   unions   throughout   the   country,  the 


104  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

excitement  was  intense.  The  illegal  proceeding 
was  condemned  by  every  good  citizen,  regardless 
of  vocation  or  station  in  life.  Millions  of  men  in 
every  branch  of  labor  threatened  to  strike,  but 
were  held  in  check  by  the  assurance  of  their 
leaders  that  all  would  be  well  in  the  end. 

Mr.  Debs,  fearing  the  bad  effect  his  arrest 
would  have  on  the  working  people,  sent  out  the 
following  appeal  for  order: 

"To  all  striking  employes  and  sympathizers: 
"In  view  of  the  serious.'phases  which  the  strike 
has  assumed,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  again  ad- 
monish you  to  not  only  refrain  from  acts  of 
violence  but  to  aid  in  every  way  in  your  power 
to  maintain  law  and  order.  We  have  everything 
to  lose  and  nothing  to  gain  by  participating, 
even  by  our  presence  in  demonstrative  gather- 
ings. Almost  universal  unrest  prevails.  Men  are 
excitable  and  inflamable.  The  distance  from 
anger  to  vengeance  is  not  great.  Every  pre- 
caution against  still  further  aggrivating  condi- 
tions should  be  taken.  In  this  supreme  hour  let 
workingmen  show  themselves  to  be  orderly 
and  law  abiding  by  freely  co-operating  with  the 
authorities  in  surpressing  turbulence  and  pre- 
serving the  peace.    Our  position  is   secure   and 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  105 

the  people  are  with  us.  We  have  made  every  ef- 
fort that  reason  and  justice  could  suggest  to  ob- 
tain redress  for  our  grievances. 

"Our  advances  have  been  repelled.  The  re- 
sponsibility for  the  grave  situation  that  confronts 
the  country  is  not  with  us.  The  indications  now 
are  that  the  stoppage  of  work  will  become  gen- 
eral. This  in  itself  will  be  a  calamity,  but  if 
order  be  maintained  it  may  yet  prove  to  be  a 
blessing  to  the  country.  I  appeal  to  every  work- 
ingman  to  entirely  keep  away  from  places  where 
trouble  would  be  likely  to  occur.  What,  under  nor- 
mal conditions,  would  probably  be  a  peacable  gath- 
ering may  now  become  a  demonstrative  mob.  All 
good  citizens  deprecate  the  loss  of  life  and  the 
destruction  of  property.  Grave  as  these  com- 
plications are,  our  civilization  is  far  enough  ad- 
vanced to  find  and  apply  a  remedy  without  re- 
sort to  violence.  We  are  merely  contenting  for 
justice  for  our  fellow  workingmen,  who  have 
been  reduced  to  want  by  a  power  that  now  de- 
fies public  opinion.  Strong  in  the  faith  that  our 
position  is  correct,  that  our  grievances  are  just, 
we  can  afibrd  to  await  the  final  verdict,  with 
patience.  The  great  public  may  be  slow  to  act, 
but  in  the  fullness  of  time  it  will  act.     Then  the 


106  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

wrong,  wherever  found  will  be  rebuked  and 
cloven  down,  and  the  right  will  be  enthroned. 
However  serious  the  situation  may  become,  let 
it  not  be  intensified  by  lawlessness  or  violence. 

Eugene  Y.  Debs." 

If  there  is  anything  tending  to  conspiracy, 
any  anarchistic  sentiment  in  the  above  appeal 
then  it  is  certain  that  Debs  was  guilty  as  indicted, 
but  if  there  is  not,  then  the  railroad  managers  and 
federal  court  were  guilty  of  a  greater  conspiracy 
and  should  be  dealt  with  accordingly.  In  all  the 
appeals,  instructions  or  advice  given  verbally  or 
otherwise  by  E.  Y.  Debs,  not  a  solitary  one  was 
of  a  more  inflamatory  nature  than  this,  and 
yet   this  man  was  accused  of  this  serious  crime. 

The  Chicago  Times  in  an  editorial  on  the  in- 
dictment of  Debs  says  in  part:  "  We  can  perhaps 
leave  to  the  lawyers  who  are  so  eager  to  indict 
Mr.  Debs,  determination  of  the  legal  position  of 
this  rebel  Wickes,  declaring  that  his  tottering 
corporation  will  brook  no  interference  national, 
state,  county,  or  municipal.  The  times  has 
learned  many  things  of  late  showing  the  power 
of  coporations  over  the  national  government  but 
we  still  cling  to  the  belief  that  Uncle  Sam  is  big- 
ger than  Duke  George,  and  if  either  the  national, 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTl^.  107 

state,  county  or  municipal  government  determ- 
ines to  interfere  with  the  affairs  of  the  Pullman 
corporation,  Mr.  Wickes  will  have  to  brook  it  or 
take  refuge  iu  Canada  with  his  titled  chiefs,  em- 
bezzlers, boodlers,  forgers  and  other  harpies  of 
societ}^,  who  from  time  to  time  have  fled 
thither." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

A  PROTEST  BY  THE  PEOPLES  PARTY. 

The  newsboys  of  Chicago  now  decided  to  join 
the  boycott  by  dropping  the  papers  unfavorable 
to  the  American  Railway  Union,  and  after  a 
noisy  session  in  which  parlimentary  rules  were 
freely  discussed,  and  several  amusing  antics  were 
indulged  in,  they  voted  to  boycott  the  Tribune, 
Herald,  Mail,  Inter-Ocean,  Post  and  Journal. 
When  the  Times  w^as  mentioned,  they  yelled 
themselves  hoarse,  and  declared  that  it  was  the 
only  paper  they  would  sell.  Hill,  the  circulator 
of  the  Post,  caused  the  arrest  of  five  of  the  little 
fellows  and  they  wejje  locked  up. 

L.  W.  Rogers,  editor  of  the  Raihvaj^  Times, 
the  official  organ  of  the  American  Railway 
Union  finally  succeeded  in  getting  the  attention 
of  the  boys  and  informed  them  that  the  union 
could  not  accept  any  sacrifice  from  the  new^sboys 
of  Chicago.  He  assured  them  that  the  men  w^ere 
strong  enough  to  do  their  own  boycotting  and 
requested  them  to  continue  the  sale  of  the  papers. 

108 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  109 

He  said :  '*  We  do  not  want  to  take  one  red  cent 
out  of  your  earnings,  if  things  were  as  they 
should  be,  you  lads  would  be  at  school  in  the 
day  time  and  in  comfortable  homes  at  night  in- 
stead of  selling  papers  on  the  street." 

At  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Roger's  remarks 
they  all  sped  away  to  the  Times  office,  where 
cheer  after  cheer  was  given  for  the  peoples  paper. 
Notwithstanding  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Rogers,  the 
Times,  Record,  Dispatch  and  News  were  the  only 
papers  to  be  had  on  the  streets. 

The  Knights  of  Labor  and  Trades  Unions  as 
well  as  business  men's  unions  were  holding  meetings 
all  over  the  country,  denouncing  the  action  of 
Cleveland  and  the  courts  and  endorsing  the  Am- 
merican  Railway  Union  in  its  manly  fight  for 
rights.  The  strike  situation  had  not  changed  to 
any  great  extent  with  the  exception  of  pas- 
senger service.  Passenger  trains  were  beginning 
to  run  with  more  regularity,  but  the  freight  busi- 
ness w^as  to  all  practical  purposes  dead.  The 
men  whom  the  companies  had  succeeded  in  get- 
ting so  far  to  fill  the  places  of  strikers  were  green 
men,  entirely  unused  to  that  kind  of  work,  and 
incompetent  men  who  had  previously  been  dis- 
charged for  drunkeness  and  other  causes.      The 


110  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

j'-ard  service  was  a  failure,  and  as  an  illustration 
— to  show  the  kind  of  men  the  different  roads 
had  secured  to  make  up  trains — I  was  passing 
a  certain  yard  and  stopped  to  watch  a 
switching  crew,  and  carefully  noted  how 
they  performed  their  work.  An  engine  with 
one  car  backed  up  to  couple  unto  some  cars 
on  a  lumber  track.  Two  of  the  would-be 
switchmen  with  a  long  stick  were  holding  up 
the  link,  one  men  on  either  side  of  the  coupling, 
but  just  as  the  link  was  about  to  enter  the 
drawbar  one  of  them  jumped  away,  at  the  same 
time  stumbling  over  a  pile  of  lumber,  and  the 
way  that  fellow  scrambled  about  in  his  frantic 
endeaver  to  get  out  of  the  way,  would  lead  a 
person  to  believe  he  had  fallen  upon  a  hornet's 
nest. 

After  several  such  attempts  they  finally  suc- 
ceeded in  making  the  coupling.  This  is  the  kind 
of  men  with  which  the  company  proposed  to 
fill  the  places  of  the  strikers. 

The  Grand  Trunk  engineers,  who  up  to  this 
time  had  refused  to  work  with  other  than  brother- 
hood firemen  decided  to  work  with  scabs,  and 
their  decision  was  hailed  with  delight  by  the  of- 
ficials.    They    said  that    the   strike  was    now 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  Ill 

settled  and  they  could  rim  their  trains  without 
difficulty. 

The  engineers  and  firemen  on  the  Chicago  & 
Alton  road  also  decided  to  stand  by  the  com- 
pany. The  firemen,  switchmen  and  other  em- 
ployes of  the  Grand  Trunk  called  a  meet- 
ing, and  after  denouncing  the  action  of  the  en- 
gineers, voted  to  stand  by  the  American  Railway 
Union  to  the  end. 

One  amusing  incident  that  occured  about  this 
time,  w^as  the  refusal  of  the  Washington  National 
Guards  to  ride  on  a  train  that  was  run  by 
scabs.  The  entire  company  of  sixty  men  refused 
to  ride  on  a  Northern  Pacific  train  for  this 
reason,  and  they  were  promptly  placed  under 
arrest,  put  into  box  cars  and  taken  to  Sprague. 

General  Master  Workman  Sovereign  had  at 
this  time  an  order  drawn  up  for  a  general  walk 
out  of  members  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  but  it 
was  withdrawn  after  a  consultation  with  other 
labor  leaders.  Many  comments  were  made  by 
newspapers  throughout  the  country  on  this 
order,  of  which  a  copy  was  furnished  the  papers 
under  the  impression  that  it  would  go  into  effect 
at  once. 

People  who  had  remained  passive  up  to  this 


112  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

time  were  now  aroused  to  the  gravity  of  the 
situation.  The  pending  crisis  was  near  at  hand, 
and  a  general  uprisal  of  the  laboring  people  to 
assert  their  rights  was  imminent.  The  tyran- 
ical  and  dogged  persistency  of  plutocratic  capital 
to  dominate  over  the  laboring  classes  with  utter 
disregard  for  their  constitutional  rights,  was 
nothing  more  or  less  than  an  open  declaration 
of  despotic  supremacy,  and  the  outcome  was 
looked  forward  to  with  the  gravest  appre- 
hension. 

The  following  communication  addressed  to 
the  chairman  of  the  National  Committee  of  the 
Peoples  Party  was  sent  to  Washington,  D.  C. 

"To  the  Hon.  H.  E.  Taubeneck,  chairman 
National  Committee,  Peoples  Party: 

"Through  the  gloom  of  civil  war  the  enemies 
of  human  liberty  laid  the  foundation  upon  which 
the  giant  monopolies  of  to-day  have  been  built. 
On  public  lands,  with  public  funds  they  built  the 
railroads  which  they  now  use  to  plunder  the 
producers  of  this  nation,  and  with  the  wealth 
and  power  thus  obtained  they  now  usurp  the 
power  and  functions  of  government  to  reduce 
the  people  of  this  country  to  a  condition  of  serf- 
dom.    The  workmen  in  the  cities,  the  miners  in 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  113 

their  isolated  communities,  and  the  railroad  men 
throughout  the  land  have  risen  in  manful  pro- 
test against  a  threatened  military  government  of 
the  railroads  and  their  associate  monopolies. 

"In  this  hour  of  need  the  duty  of  the  Peoples 
Party  is  clear  and  plain. 

"Quick  as  the  lightning's  flash  will  bear  the 
message,  must  go  forth  that  the  Peoples  Party 
recognize  the  gravity  of  the  situation,  and  by 
common  impulse  alligns  itself  to  the  side  of  the  < 
toiler  in  the  shop  and  mine,  and  on  the 
railroads ;  their  battle  is  our  battle,  because  it  is 
a  struggle  for  liberty  and  the  right  to  exist  —  a 
peaceable  contest  on  the  part  of  toil  against  the 
combined  armies  of  greed  and  force. 

"The  farmer  knows  the  means  best  calculated 
to  help  his  brother  in  this  conflict.  The  rail- 
roads intend  to  run  their  trains  under  military 
guard  and  expect  American  citizen  to  patronize 
public  means  of  traffic,  operated  under  military 
despotism.  The  Peoples  Party  of  Cook  county, 
in  common  with  organized  labor  demand  im- 
mediate arbitration,  and  urges  immediate  action 
on  the  part  of  our  national  committee  to  the 
end    that    all    organizations    in  sympathy    with 


114.  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

labor  be  united  in  common  cause  against  a  com- 
mon enemy. 

"Signed:    T.  O'Brien,  Chairman, 
I.  H.  Hawley,  Sec'y. 
H.  S.  Taylor, 
Henry  Vincent, 
John  Bagley, 
D.  M.  Fielwiler, 
John  Schwartz, 
C.  G.  Dixon, 
J.  P.  Grimes, 

Committee." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

AN    OFFER    OF    SETTLEMENT. 

Senator  Pfeffer,  of  Kansas,  arraigned  congress 
for  its  defence  of  monopolies,  and  its  stand 
against  the  people.  Senator  Kyle,  of  Dakota, 
also  charged  congress  with  being  in  collusion 
with  the  railroads,  but  Senator  Davis,  of  Minne- 
sota, on  the  other  hand,  denounced  Debs  and  the 
strikers.  He  said  the  strike  grew  from  a  strike 
to  a  boycott,  from  boycott  to  riot,  from  riot  to 
insurrection,  that  the  acts,  if  committed  on  the 
high  seas,  w^ould  be  piracy  and  punishable  by 
death.  He  spoke  of  the  injustice  being  done  the 
farmers  of  the  United  States,  and  how  they  were 
effected  by  the  strike  in  Chicago.  He  urged  that 
it  was  time  some  action  should  be  taken  to  put 
down  the  rising  tide  of  anarchy.  He  held  that 
a  nuisance  should  be  abated  and  that  Debs  was 
a  nuisance. 

Senator  Gordon,  of  Georgia,  and  Senator 
Daniels,  of  Virginia,  followed  in  the  same  kind  of 
demagogery  as  Davis. 


116  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

A  great  meeting  was  held  in  Dubuque,  and 
prominent  among  the  speakers  was  County  At- 
torney Mathews  who  insisted  on  obedience  to 
law,  but  denounced  Judge  Grosscup  for  issuing 
an  injunction  which  denied  the  constitutional 
right  of  free  speech  and  trial  by  Jury. 

Mayor  Hopkins,  of  Chicago,  Mayor  Pingree, 
of  Detroit,  Michigan,  and  Erskine  M.  Phelps 
conferred  with  Mr.  Wicks,  and  Mrs.  Brown  and 
Runnell  of  the  Pullman  Company  at  the  re- 
quest of  some  fifty  mayors,  representing  about 
one-third  of  the  population  of  the  United  States 
—and  urged  arbitration  as  a  means  of  settling 
the  strike.  The  efforts  of  these  gentlemen  were 
in  vain.  The  imperious  Pullman  company 
through  its  representative,  though  not  saying  so 
in  as  many  words,  intimated  that  the  com- 
pany would  not  establish  a  precedent  whereby 
workmen  could  interfere  in  its  business.  Mayor 
Pingree,  of  Detroit,  corresponded  with  almost 
every  mayor  of  the  larger  cities  of  the  United 
States,  and  received  answers  favorable  to  arb- 
itration from  all  with  one  exception,  that  of 
Mayor  Gilroy,  of  New  York  City,  whose  answer 
to  the  telegram  of  Mayor  Pingree  was  an  em- 
phatic no. 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  117 

The  wildest  excitement  now  prevailed  at 
Sacramento.  The  United  States  troops  com- 
manded by  Col.  Graham  and  consisting  of  in- 
fantry, cavalry,  artillery,  and  gatling  and 
Hotchkiss  guns,  presented  a  most  war  like 
aspect.  The  strikers  on  learning  of  this  movement 
on  the  part  of  (the  government  armed  themselves, 
and  it  was  feared  that  a  desperate  conflict  would 
take  place. 

The  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers  in 
this  district  called  upon  Supt.  Filmore  of  the 
Southern  Pacific  and  stated  that  they  were  ready 
to  resume  work  at  once.  This  weakened  the 
cause  of  the  strikers  to  some  extent  and  caused 
a  smile  of  satisfaction  on  the  faces  of  the  rail- 
road managers. 

After  much  persuasion  due  to  the  untiring 
efforts  of  Congressman  McGann,  President  Cleve- 
land consented  to  appoint  a  committee  of  three 
to  investigate  the  strike,  under  section  6  of  the 
arbitration  act,  prepared  some  years  ago  under 
the  eyes  of  Powderly,  McGuire  and  Hays  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  offered  by  Representative 
Quail,  of  St.  Louis,  and  made  a  law  on  Oct.  1, 
1888.  This  determination  on  the  part  of  Cleve- 
land was  received  with  satisfaction  throughout 


118  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

the  country.  This  was  just  what  the  American 
Railway  Union  wanted.  This  was  what  the 
Trades  and  Labor  Unions  of  the  United 
States  had  appealed  for,  and  what  the  business 
men  and  city  representatives  had  so  long  de- 
manded, begged  and  entreated  of  the  Pullman 
company,  but  without  avail. 

It  looked  at  this  time  as  if  an  investigation 
would  be  forced  on  Duke  Pullman,  and  the  people 
were  looking  forward  to  a  speedy  settlement  of 
the  trouble.  The  American  Railway  Union,  hav- 
ing no  fear  of  the  final  decision  of  the  investi- 
gating committee,  and  viewing  the  vast  amount 
of  destruction  of  property,  loss  of  life  and  ex- 
treme hardship  to  which  the  people  were  sub- 
jected on  account  of  the  strike— decided  to  take 
the  necessary  steps  to  call  off  the  strike,  they 
drew  up  the  following  proposition  which  was 
given  to  ]Mr.  Hopkins,  mayor  of  Chicago,  to 
present  to  the  general  managers. 

"To  the  Railway  Managers: 

"Gentlemen :— The  existing  trouble  growing 
out  of  the  Pullman  strike  having  assumed  con- 
tinental proportions,  and  there  being  no  indi- 
cations of  relief  from  the  wide  spread  business 
demoralization  and  distress,  incident  thereto,  the 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  119 

railway  employes,  through  the  board  of  direct- 
ors of  the  American  Railway  Union  respectfully 
make  the  following  proposition  as  a  basis  of 
settlement : 

"They  agree  to  return  to  work  in  a  body  at 
once,  provided  they  shall  be  restored  to  their 
former  positions  without  prejudice,  except  incases, 
if  any  there  be,  where  they  have  been  convicted 
of  crime.  This  proposition  looking  to  an  imme- 
diate settlement  of  the  existing  strike  on  all 
lines  of  railway  is  inspired  by  a  purpose  to  sub- 
serve public  good.  The  strike,  small  and  com- 
paratively unimportant  in  its  inception,  has  ex- 
tented  in  every  direction  until  now  it  involves 
or  threatens  not  only  every  public  interest,  but 
the  peace,  security  and  prosperity  of  our  com- 
mon country.  The  contest  has  waged  fiercely,  it 
has  extented  far  beyond  the  limits  of  interest 
originally  involved,  and  has  laid  hold  of  a  vast 
number  of  industries  and  enterprises  in  nowise 
responsible  for  the  difference  and  disagreements 
that  led  to  the  trouble. 

"Factory,  mill,  mine  and  shop  have  been 
silenced.  Widespread  demoralization  has  sway. 
The  interests  of  multiplied  thousands  of  people 
"are  suffering,  and  the  common  welfare  is  seriously 


120  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

menaced,  The  public  peace  and  tranquility  are 
imperiled,  and  grave  apprehension  for  the  future 
prevails.  This  being  true,  and  the  statement 
will  not  be  controverted,  we  conceive  it  to  be  our 
duty  as  citizens  and  as  men,  to  make  extraordi- 
nary efforts  to  end  the  existing  strife  and  ap- 
proaching calamaties  whose  shadows  are  even 
now  upon  us.  If  ended  now,  the  contest,  how- 
ever serious  in  some  respects,  will  not  have  been 
in  vain. 

"Sacrifices  have  been  made,  but  they  will 
have  their  compensations.  Indeed,  if  lessons  shall 
be  taught  by  experience,  the  troubles  now  so 
widely  deplored  will  prove  a  blessing  of  inestim- 
able value  in  the  years  to  come.  The  difference 
that  led  up  to  the  present  complications  need  not 
now  be  discussed,  every  consideration  of  duty 
and  patriotism  demands  that  a  remedy  for  ex- 
isting troubles  be  found  and  applied.  The  em- 
ployes purpose  to  do  their  part  by  meeting  their 
employers  half  way.  Let  it  be  stated  that  they 
do  not  impose  any  condition  of  settlement  ex- 
cept that  they  be  returned  to  their  former  posi- 
tions; they  do  not  ask  recognition  of  their  org- 
anization or  any  organization. 

"  Believing  this  proposition  to  be  fair,  reason- 


THE  PULLMAN  BOPCOTT.  121 

able  and  just  it  is  respectfully  submitted  with 
the  belief  that  its  acceptance  will  result  in  the 
prompt  resumption  of  traffic,  the  revival  of  in- 
dustry, and  the  restoration  of  peace  and  order. 
**  Respectfully, 

E.  V.  Debs,  Pres. 

G.  W.  Howard,  V.  Pres. 

S.  Kelliher,  Secy. 

American  Railway  Union." 

The  propisition  was  rejected  and  spurned  by 
the  General  Managers  Association. 

Is  there  a  man  so  utterly  lost  to  the  sense  of 
justice,  that  would  conscientiously  dispute  the 
manly  fairness  of  this  communication  ? 

The  object  of  the  general  managers  was  too 
apparent,  their  position  was  clearly  defined. 
Their  determination  to  wipe  out  of  existence  all 
railroad  organizations  was  as  fixed  and  un- 
moveable  as  the  Rock  of  Gibralter  and  why 
should  they  recede  from  their  position? 

The  federal  courts  and  federal  government 
(owned  and  controlled  by  the  corporations)  de- 
cided that  the  constitutional  rights  of  free  speech 
and  trial  by  jury,  equal  rights  to  all  and  special 
privileges  to  none,  was  a  farce.  In  their  narrow 
money-loving  minds  there  could  be  no  rights  for 


122  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

honest  labor,  and  determined  there  should  be  no 
rights  for  a  workingman.  After  this  decision  of 
the  general  managers  the  American  Railway 
Union  could  do  nothing  but  fight  out  the  battle 
to  the  bitter  end. 

Eugene  Y.  Debs, —  representing  a  body  of 
honest  toilers  with  no  other  motive  than  to 
obtain  for  them  living  wages,  his  heart  overflow- 
ing with  generous  impulses  and  humane  kind- 
ness, his  noble  nature  revolting  against  the 
tyranical  oppression  of  his  fellow  man  by  the 
soulless  corporations,  a  man  who  loves  his 
country  with  patriotic  devotion,  —  for  these 
reasons  and  no  other,  was  indicted  and  arrested 
on  the  charge  of  criminal  conspiracy, 'while  John 
M.  Egan— representing  the  General  Managers 
Association,  a  giant  monopoly  and  powerful 
money  grasping  trust,  built  on  the  peoples  land 
and  with  the  peoples  money,  a  combination 
foreign  to  American  institutions,  usurping  the 
functions  of  the  government  with  avowed  intent 
and  purpose  to  take  away  the  rights  of  organ- 
ization from  the  working  man  and  reduce  him 
to  a  condition  of  absolute  slavery, — was  allowed 
to  continue  his  nefarious  work  without  inter- 
uption.     Surely  this   partial,  one-sided  distribu- 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  123 

tion  of  justice,  openly  and  defiantly  administered, 
deserves  the  severest  condemnation  of  every 
loyal  American  citizen. 

The  Pullman  boycott  had  now  ceased  to  be 
the  point  at  issue  in  the  strike.  It  was  novsr  the 
life  or  death  of  railroad  organizations. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

DEBS    IN    JAIL. 

The  strike  situation  still  looked  very  bright 
for  the  men. 

At  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis  the  business  of 
the  railroads,  with  the  exception  of  the  Soo  Line, 
St.  Paul  &  Duluth  and  the  Great  Northern,  was 
practically  at  a  standstill. 

On  the  St.  Paul  &  Duluth  the  men  as  a 
whole  refused  to  strike,  a  few  firemen  and  switch- 
men left  their  positions  at  the  call  but  did  not 
seriously  effect  the  operation  of  trains.  This  was 
also  true  of  the  Soo  Line.  The  Great  Northern 
so  far  was  not  implicated  as  they  used  no  Pull- 
man cars  and  positively  refused  boycotted 
freight,  that  is,  freight  offered  by  railroads  whose 
employes  were  on  a  strike.  The  Minnesota 
Transfer,  which  was  the  key  to  the  coast  lines, 
was  completely  blocked,  and  this  condition  was 
duplicated  in  almost  every  railroad  center 
throughout  the  country, 

134 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  125 

Encouraging  telegrams  were  being  received 
from  all  points  contradicting  the  reports  circula- 
ted by  a  subsidized  press  that  everything  was 
running  as  usual.  So  far  the  men  in  the  Twin 
Cities  were  conducting  themselves  in  such  an 
orderly  manner  that  even  the  press  could  not 
rake  up  one  charge  against  them.  They  strictly 
adhered  to  the  advice  of  President  Debs  to  keep 
out  of  saloons  and  away  from  railroad  property. 
The  only  action  taken  by  the  strikers  was  to 
induce  other  men  by  moral  persuation  not  to 
take  their  places  and  assist  the  managers  to 
operate  the  roads. 

For  this  Charles  J.  Luth  was  foully  murdered 
by  one  Leonard,  chief  clerk  in  the  office  of  James 
McCabe,  superintendent  of  the  C,  St.  P.,  M.  & 
0.  Ry. 

On  the  evening  of  July  14,  Leonard,  in  com- 
pany with  Bert  Nash,  also  an  employe  of  the 
same  railroad,  brought  a  lot  of  non-union  men  to 
a  boarding  place  in  St.  Paul,  known  as  the  Min- 
nesota Home.  Luth  followed  them  into  the 
house  and  requested  the  proprietress  of  the  Home 
not  to  board  them  as  they  were  in  the  city  to 
take  the  place  of  strikers,  and  while  ex- 
plaining the  situation,  became  involved  in  an  al- 


126  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

tercation  with  Nash.  Leonard  interfered  and  was 
told  by  Luth  that  he  was  little  better  than  a 
scab,  whereupon  Leonard  drew  a  revolver  and 
fired  five  times,  all  of  the  shots  taking  effect  in 
the  body  of  Luth.  Two  of  the  shots  were  fired 
after  Luth  had  fallen  to  the  floor. 

These  facts  were  given  by  an  eye  witness 
who  afterwards  took  the  revolver  from 
Leonard. 

This  dastardly,  cold  blooded  murder  worked 
the  strikers  into  a  frenzy  of  excitement,  and  had 
it  not  been  for  a  herculean  effort  on  the  part  of 
older  and  cooler  heads,  a  lynching  would  surely 
have  occurred. 

This  foul  deed  was  absolutely  unwarranted 
as  Luth  was  unarmed  and  alone,  and  if  he  had 
harmed  or  threatened  to  harm  any  one,  an  ofii- 
cer  could  have  been  called  and  he  would  have 
been  promptly  arrested. 

Luth  left  a  wife  and  two  small  children  to 
mourn  his  loss  and  grieve  over  his  tragic  end. 

The  funeral  procession  that  followed  the  re- 
mains to  the  grave  headed  by  the  Knights  of 
Pythias  and  Foresters,  was  the  largest  ever  seen 
in  St.  Paul. 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  127 

President  Debs  felt  confident  of  victory.  Ad- 
dressing a  meeting  at  Ulrich  Hall,  he  said : 

"We  have  just  finished  reading  160  telegrams 
in  not  one  of  which  there  is  any  sign  of  weaken- 
ing." He  dwelled  on  the  action  of  the  general 
managers  refusing  to  entertain  the  proposition 
made  to  them,  and  the  necessity  of  the  men  re- 
maining loyal  to  one  another.  "  The  law  seems  to 
be  against  us  as  it  is  read  by  some,  but  if  the 
law  makes  it  a  crime  to  advise  you  men  against 
the  encroachments  of  capital,  by  all  the  Gods 
united  I  will  rot  in  jail."  Referring  to  the  atti- 
tude of  other  railroad  organizations,  he  said: 
"Men  in  such  positions  as  myself  and  Mr.  How- 
ard cannot  afford  to  be  on  good  terms  with 
general  managers.  If  we  are  we  cannot  be  your 
friends.  It  is  true,  however,  that  certain  officers 
of  certain  other  organizations  ride  on  annual 
passes  and  spend  months  on  fishing  excursions 
at  the  expense  of  the  railroad  managers,  but  it 
comes  out  of  your  wages  in  the  end." 

Members  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive 
Engineers  present,  informed  the  officers  of  the 
American  Railway  Union  that  Chief  Arthur  had 
issued  orders  for  men  to  work  with  scabs, 
and  that  he  was  supplying  scabs  to  take  the 


128  IHE  PTILI.MAN  BOYCOTT. 

places  of  men  on  strike.  In  other  words,  he 
was  running  an  employment  agency  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  railroads. 

The  general  managers  defeat  on  the  fifth 
day  of  the  strike  was  beyond  all  question  of  a 
doubt.  They  had  summoned  to  their  support 
the  federal  government  with  the  result  previously 
mentioned,  but  the  government  aid  was  not  suf- 
ficient to  operate  their  roads.  They  must  have 
a  number  of  the  old  men  to  educate  and  aid  the 
scabs  in  the  performance  of  their  duties.  At  this 
critical  time  the  services  of  their  faithful  allies 
were  badly  wanted.  In  this,  their  time  of  need 
they  knew  that  those  men  who  had  feted,  dined 
and  wined  at  their  expense  would  prove  faithful 
to  them  and  traiters  to  the  orders  they  repre- 
sented. 

The  damnable  spirit  of  treachery  that 
evoked  Benedict  Arnold  to  betray  his  country 
predominated  in  the  hearts  of  these  double-dyed 
scoundrels.  They  were  not  only  ready  and  wil- 
ling but  feverishly  anxious  to  assist  the  corpor- 
ations to  enslave  the  men  that  they  were  oath- 
bound  as  well  as  duty  bound  to  protect.  Grand 
Chief  Arthur,  representing  the  engineers,  who  had 
grown    old     in     the     service     of    the     corpo- 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  129 

rations,  and  whose  wealth  was  estimated  at 
half  a  million  dollars,  in  direct  violation  of  the 
constitution  of  his  order,  ordered  his  men  to 
work  with  scab  firemen.  Not  only  this,  he  or- 
dered all  those  who  were  on  strike  to  return  at  once 
to  their  engines  and  in  case  of  their  refusal  he 
would  supply  men  to  take  their  places.  This 
was  also  true  of  Grand  Chief  Sargent  of  the 
Firemen  and  Wilkinson  of  the  Trainmen.  Clark 
of  the  Conductors,  and  Barrett  of  the  Switchmen 
advised  their  men  to  return  to  work  as  the^^  had 
no  grievance.  But  only  a  part  of  these  men 
would  be  taken  back  by  the  companies,  and  what 
under  the  sun  did  these  chiefs  intent  to  do  with 
the  others?  Positively  nothing.  But  the  result 
was  exactly  what  they  intended  it  should  be,  and 
the  men  were  applying  to  the  companies— in  lots 
of  ten  and  twenty  in  the  different  cities — for  their 
positions. 

The  dark  deeds  of  treachery  were  now  rife 
in  many  places  especially  in  the  Twin  Cities.  At 
this  point  the  blocade,  which  was  on  since 
the  strike  began,  and  which  was  the  ke}^  to  the 
situation  in  the  Northwest  was  raised. 

The  Great  Northern  was  the  only  line  in  opera- 
tion to  the  coast,  and  under  instructions  from  J. 


130  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

J.  Hill,  the  president,  refused  to  accept  any  freight 
from  roads  included  in  the  boycott.  The  men 
were  instructed  to  decline  even  to  throw  a  switch 
or  assist  in  any  manner  any  road  on  strike,  as 
the  Great  Northern  company  did  not  wish  to  be 
drawn  into  the  difficulty.  In  fact  the  men  on 
this  line  were,  almost  to  a  man,  members  of  the 
American  Railway  Union,  and  could  not  even  if 
asked  to  do  any  act  that  might  prove  a  detri- 
ment to  their  brothers.  At  this  time  there  hap- 
pened to  be  sixty  car  loads  of  twine  in  St.  Paul, 
a  greater  portion  of  which  was  at  Minnesota 
Transfer.  This  freight  was  consigned  to  points 
on  the  Great  Northern  Line  and  a  committee 
headed  by  Harry  Gray,  chairman  of  the  gen- 
eral board  of  mediation  of  the  American  Rail- 
way Union  on  that  system,  appeared  at  the 
rooms  of  the  central  strike  committee  and  asked 
permission  to  switch  out  the  twine,  giving  as  an 
excuse  that  the  farmers  were  in  need  of  it. 

This  permission  the  committee  was  loth  to 
grant  as  any  move  toward  raising  this  blockade 
in  the  Twin  Cities  might  prove  detrimental  to 
their  cause,  and  further  action  on  the  matter 
was  deferred  until  it  would  be  submitted  to  the 
different  unions  interested. 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  131 

That  night  at  a  meeting  held  at  Plummer 
Post  Hall  in  Minneapolis,  the  American  Railway 
Union  headquarters,  a  committee  of  farmers, 
from  the  peoples  party  convention  in  session 
there  at  that  time,  were  admitted. 

When  appraised  of  the  nature  of  the  trouble 
they  stated  that  they  had  contracts  with  the 
twine  companies  to  deliver  their  twine  and  on 
failure  to  do  so  the  farmers  would  suffer  no  loss. 
They  further  stated  that  the  farmers  would  bind 
their  grain  b}^  hand  before  they  would  ask  the 
men  to  do  an\^thing  detrimental  to  the  success 
of  the  strike.  This  settled  it  as  far  as  the  twine 
was  concerned.  However,  the  next  da}-,  the  offi- 
cials of  the  Great  Northern  took  an  engine  and 
switched  the  twine  out  themselves  without  any 
objection  being  made  by  the  men  who  stood  by 
while  the  work  was  being  done. 

This  was  the  beginning  only. 

The  next  move  was  a  positive  assurance  of 
treachery. 

The  Burlington  road  had  about  thirty  cars 
of  water  pipe  for  the  Great  Northern,  and  this 
same  man  Gray  again  waited  on  the  central 
committee  for  permission  to  move  the  freight, 
saying,  that  he  had  the  assurance    of  the  com- 


132  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

pany  tliat  no  more  concessions  would  be  asked. 
His  requst  was  promptly  refused.  Later  a  com- 
mittee of  switchmen  called  on  the  central  com- 
mittee for  instructions  and  were  told  not  to  move 
the  freight  under  any  conditions. 

They  left  apparently  satisfied,  but  never-the- 
less  the  cars  were  moved;  no  one  seemed  to  know 
how  but  it  became  apparent  to  the  strikers  that 
a  traitor  was  in  their  ranks,  and  took  immediate 
steps  to  ferret  him  out,  and  have  the  embargo  once 
more  placed  on  business  at  this  point. 

Gray  of  St.  Paul,  and  Foster  of  St.  Cloud, 
were  openly  accused  of  being  the  traitors  to  the 
cause,  although  others  were  thought  to  be  impli- 
cated. Charges  were  preferred  against  Gray  in 
the  Union,  but  nothing  ever  came  of  it.  Every 
concievable  means  was  used  to  again  cause  a 
blockade  at  this  point  but  to  no  avail. 

The  switchmen  promised  to  refuse  to  handle 
boycotted  freight  if  the  road  would  support 
them  in  case  of  discharge,  which  they  well  knew 
was  inevitable.  It  would  be  simply  a  sacrifice  to 
strike  in  the  yards  of  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis 
without  the  support  of  the  whole  system, 
although  after  a  canvas  of  the  road,  when  it  was 
found  that  the  majority  of  the  men  voted  against 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  133 

a  strike,  the  switchmen  of  these  cities  sent  word 
that  they  were  ready  to  ask  for  their  time  and 
quit  the  service  of  the  company  if  the  Union  so 
desired.  This  proposition  the  strikers  would  not 
accept,  not  caring  to  sacrifice  a  few  loyal  switch- 
men whose  places  could  be  easily  filled  if  the  rest 
of  the  employes  remained  at  work. 

This  result  was  wired  to  Chicago,  and  Direc- 
tor Goodwin  was  sent  out  to  see  what  could  be 
done.  His  efforts  were  fruitless.  The  road  was 
again  canvassed  with  the  same  result,  and  Good- 
win returning  to  Chicago,  Mr.  Burns,  another 
director  of  the  Union,  was  sent  to  take  his  place, 
but  with  no  better  success. 

They  positively  refused  to  strike.  The  trait- 
ors with  the  price  of  their  treachery  in  their 
pockets  had  been  there  first  and  accomplished 
their  purpose. 

The  damnable  traitors  responsible  for  the 
raising  of  the  blockade  were  also  responsible  for 
the  suffering  and  untold  misery  of  the  noble  men 
whose  sympathetic  hearts  went  out  to  their 
brothers  in  Pullman,  and  who  without  money 
were  obliged  to  leave  their  homes  (in  many 
cases  onlv  partly  paid  for)  and  seek  employment 
elsewhere  in  order  to  provide  for  their  families. 


134  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

The  switchmen  in  the  employ  of  the  Mil- 
waukee road  at  Minneapolis,  now — fearing  that 
the  treachery  of  the  men  on  the  Great  Northern 
Line  would  lose  the  strike  in  the  Northwest — 
applied  for  their  positions,  and  all  who  were 
wanted  were  taken  back.  The  men  who  were  em- 
ployed by  the  Omaha  Railway  at  East  St.  Paul, 
took  the  same  course,  but  all  others  declared  their 
intention  of  standing  out  until  the  American  Rail- 
way Union  called  oft'  the  strike. 

Disasters  seemed  to  follow  one  another  in 
rapid  succession  at  this  time.  In  many  places  the 
weak-kneed  men  were  appljang  for  work  and  cir- 
culating false  stories  to  induce  others  to  do  the 
same.  The  news  went  flashing  over  the  wires  that 
Debs,  Howard,  Rogers  and  Kelliher  were  in  jail. 
But  this  news  did  not  have  the  depressing  effect  on 
the  men  that  was  expected,  in  fact  it  only  caused 
a  feeling  of  indignation  and  the  strikers  were  now 
more  determined  than  ever  to  stand  up  for  their 
rights  and  fight  out  the  battle  with  renewed 
energy. 

In  making  this  statement  I  do  not  refer  to  the 
poltroons  who  were  continually  raising  the  cry : 
We  are  lost,  but  I  refer  to  the  noble  men  who 
spoke  from  their  manly  hearts,  and  with  words  of 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  135 

no  uncertain  sound  declared  their  intention  to  go 
down  to  defeat  if  need  be  with  those  grand,  noble, 
generous  hearted  men,  who  signified  their  willing- 
ness to  rot  in  jail,  or  even  mount  the  scaffold  in 
defence  of  the  just  and  righteous  cause  they  had 
wrapped  their  lives  in. 

Could  it  be  charged  that  they  were  actuated 
by  selfish  motives  in  the  cause  in  which  they  had 
enlisted  ?  No !  A  thousand  times  no !  If  Eugene  V. 
Debs  could  be  induced  to  turn  his  magnificent  exe- 
cutive abilities  over  to  the  railroads  instead  of  the 
the  poor  enslaved  workingmen,  these  corporations 
would  place  him  upon  the  highest  pinacle  of  pluto- 
cratic fame,  and  no  one  can  dispute  George  W. 
Howard's  title  to  being  a  workingman's  friend, 
for  by  his  actions  on  more  than  one  occasion  he 
has  proven  himself  to  be  a  friend  indeed,  and 
actions  speak  louder  than  words. 

Yes;  the  four  officers  of  the  American  Railway 
Union  were  in  jail.  United  States  Attorney  Mil- 
christ  appeared  before  Judge  Seaman  in  the 
United  States  district  court  on  the  morning,  of 
July  17,  and  on  behalf  of  the  government  filed  in- 
formation presented  by  George  R.  Peck,  who 
represented  the  general  managers  and  receivers  of 
the  Santa  Fe  system. 


136  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

In  response  to  the  prayer  of  tlie  district  at- 
torney, Judge  Seaman  issued  writs  of  attachment 
for  the  appearance  of  Debs,  Howard,  Rogers  and 
Kelliher,  directing  them  to  be  present  at  the  after- 
noon session  of  the  court  and  show  causes  why 
they  should  not  be  punished  for  contempt  in  con- 
tinuing to  disregard  the  injunction  of  the  court. 
W.  W.  Erwin,  of  St.  Paul,  W.  A.  Shoemaker  and 
S.  S.  Gregory,  of  Chicago,  were  retained  to  defend 
the  men  on  behalf  of  the  American  Railway  Union. 
The  voluminous  information  made  up  of  tele- 
grams, copies  of  injunctions,  etc.,  was  read  by  At- 
torney Milchrist,  after  which  the  court  ruled  that 
two  seperate  attachments  be  issued  and  seperate 
records  be  kept. 

Mr.  Gregory  stated  that  he  failed  to  see  why 
the  government  should  interfere  to  protect  prop- 
erty rights  of  railroads,  and  this  called  forth  a 
retort  from  Mr.  Walker  that  Uncle  Sam  was  seek- 
ing to  protect  only  the  intestate  commerce  and 
the  mails  and  not  the  railroad  property. 

The  information  embodied  almost  everything 
pertaining  to  the  strike,  and  over  an  hour  was 
consumed  in  its  reading.  Telegrams  sent  out  to 
strike  leaders  by  President  Debs  were  submitted 
but  contained  no  startling  facts. 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  137 

One  of  these  addressed  to  H.  E.  Sarion, 
Garrett,  Ind.,  read  as  follows:  "Have  all  classes 
of  employes  withdrawn  from  service  at  once." 
Another  to  Charles  Fink,  Oakland,  Cal.,  says: 
"Commit  no  violence."  Mr.  Debs  communica- 
tion to  the  railway  managers  suggesting  a  set- 
tlement of  the  strike  was  incorporated  in  the  in- 
formation as  was  also  the  question  of  Chicago 
public  health  in  the  matter  of  removing  dead 
animals  from  the  city.  Several  newspaper  inter- 
views and  a  cop}^  of  the  original  injunction  is- 
sued by  Judges  Wood  and  Grosscup  was  also 
contained  therein,  and  after  Peck  of  the  Santa 
Fe  had  sought  to  bolster  up  the  information 
with  an  argument,  Mr.  Gregory  urged  that  the 
defendants  had  not  been  charged  with  violence, 
and  declared  that  it  was  his  belief  that  the  tes- 
timony should  be  taken  by  a  master.  Mr. 
Walker  opposed  this  in  favor  of  a  hearing  in 
open  court  and  was  sustained.  This  led  up  to  a 
a  long  legal  wrangle  participated  in  by  both 
sides,  .and  a  firey  speech  by  Mr.  Irwin  of  the 
defence,  in  which  he  denied  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
court,  and  hinted  at  monarchy  and  dictatorial 
methods.  Mr.  Walker  pressed  his  motion  that 
the  defendents  be  placed  under  bonds  to  appear 


138  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

before  the  court  and  Judge  Seaman  fixed  the  bail 
in  each  case  at  $3,000.  Mr.  Debs,  declining  a 
score  of  offers  from  prominent  men  to  furnish 
the  necessary  security,  decided  to  go  to  jail.  In 
reply  to  a  question  Mr.  Debs  said:  "This  is  the 
first  time  in  my  life  that  I  have  been  incarcer- 
ated in  a  jail,  but  with  us  it  is  a  matter  of 
principle.  We  have  had  many  offers  of  bail  but 
have  refused  them  all.  The  poor  striker  if  arrested 
would  be  thrown  into  jail  and  we  are  certainly 
no  better  than  he,  we  will  eat  regularly,  prison 
fare,  and  expect  to  be  treated  as  any  other  pris- 
oners would  be." 

Their  trial  was    set  for  the  following  Mon- 
day. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


BLACKLISTING   BEGINS. 


The  strike  situation  was  now  in  the  bal- 
ance. The  managers  and  their  faithful  allies  the 
press,  had  given  it  out  that  the  strike  was  off. 
One  fact  that  could  not  be  denied,  was  that  P. 
M.  Arthur,  of  the  General  Managers  Association, 
—though  still  representing  the  engineers— was 
doing  great  work  for  the  companies,  as  the 
engineers  were  returning  to  work  pretty  gener- 
ally throughout  the  country.  Sargent  of  the 
firemen  was  also  playing  his  cards  well,  but  not 
meeting  with  the  same  success  as  the  "grand  old 
chief."  Wilkenson  of  the  trainmen  was  sending 
out  his  orders  and  ultimatums,  thick  and  fast 
and  his  men  were  now  fast  returning  to  their  old 
positions. 

It  was  now  a  question  of  whether  the  men 
would  prove  loyal  to  themselves  and  their  best 
interests,  or  loyal  to  the  companies  who  were 
putting  forth  their  best  efforts  to  trample  them 
to  earth,  and  it  is  a  painful  fact  that   many   of 


140  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

them  were  so  blinded  to  their  own  interests, 
— through  their  craven  cowardice — that  they 
returned  to  work,  and,  to  what  will  be  in  the 
near  future  beyond  a  question  of  a  doubt,  longer 
hours,  less  wages,  and  the  complete  anihilation 
of  all  semblence  of  rights. 

The  strike  was  fast  resolving  itself  into  a 
switchmen's  fight  against  the  railroads.  The  yards 
were  in  the  worst  immaginable  shape,  and  the 
engines  were  sadly  in  need  of  repairs.  Shopmen, 
freight  handlers,  trackmen,  and  car-repairers 
were  still  out.  Ofiice  men  were  now  back  at 
work  with  the  exception  of  a  few.  The  majority 
of  the  strikers  were  still  loyal  to  the  cause  and 
the  American  Railway  Union  was  sure  of  win- 
ning. The  Knights  of  Labor  did  not  respond  to 
the  call  of  Grand  Master  Workman  Sovereign  as 
generally  as  was  expected,  and  the  Federation 
of  Labor  had  decided  not  to  strike  at  present, 
perhaps  this  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  reports 
given  out  by  the  general  managers  that  the 
strike  was  off  and  trains  running  as  usual. 

The  United  States  troops  in  the  pay  of  the 
government  were  still  doing  service  for  the  rail- 
road corporations. 

Authenticated    reports— given    out    by    the 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  141 

striking  committees— from  different  parts  of  the 
country  would  not  seem  to  bear  out  the  state- 
ments of  the  general  managers. 

These  committees  had  reports  in  regards  to 
the  operation  of  the  roads,  as  complete  as  the  of- 
ficials of  the  roads  themselves.  They  were 
thoroughl}^  posted  on  the  number  of  cars  moved 
each  day  by  each  company,  the  number  and  char- 
acter of  switch  crews  at  work  and  the  number  of 
strikers  who  had  gone  back  to  work.  In  short, 
everything  that  had  a  bearing  on  the  result.  This 
was  part  of  the  duties  imposed  upon  them  and 
they  were  faithfully  carried  out. 

Thirteen  Pan  Handle  switchmen  brought  to 
Chicago  from  Pittsburg  through  misrepresent- 
ation, when  informed,  of  the  true  state  of  affairs, 
refused  to  go  to  work,  and  demanded  transport- 
ation back  to  Pittsburg.  They  were  given  or- 
ders for  the  necessary  transportation,  but  on  pre- 
sentation the  companies  refused  to  honor  them. 
This  was  also  true  in  the  case  of  half  a  dozen  men 
brought  in  by  the  Ft.  Wayne  road. 

The  scabs  on  the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois, 
through  ignorance  and  incompetency  burned  up 
five  engines  and  wrecked  as  many  more.  One 
splendid  new  engine  was  blown  up  twenty  miles 


142  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

from  Terre  Haute,  while  en  route  to  Chicago. 
Yard  service  was  of  the  worst  possible  kind. 

The  Illinois  Central  was  doing  no  freight  busi- 
ness to  speak  of,  in  fact  the  condition  of  this  road 
was  still  worse  than  the  Chicago  &  Eastern 
Illinois. 

The  Northwestern  shops  at  Fortieth  street, 
employing  over  2300  men,  were  idle,  only  about 
twelve  men  signifying  their  willingness  to  work. 
The  Galena  division  of  this  road,  while  making 
quite  a  bluff  at  handling  freight,  was  not  accomp- 
lishing very  much,  as  it  took  them  two  days  to 
unload  a  stock  train. 

The  Milwaukee  road  was  doing  better,  having 
at  work  fifteen  engines  days  and  fourteen  nights, 
but  being  manned  mostly  by  green  and  incomp- 
etent men,  were  not  making  great  headway.  In 
all  some  350  cars  were  gotten  out  and  about  300 
received  in  one  day  which  is  very  small  business 
for  this  line. 

The  Wabash  had  only  one  engine  at  work 
nights,  and  this  was  guarded  by  a  company  of 
troops  and  about  twenty  deputy  police.  They 
succeeded  in  breaking  down  two  posts,  one  at 
Polk  street  and  another  at  Taylor  street  station, 
causing  a  damage  of  some  $300  which  was  all  ac- 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  143 

complished  in  one  night.  The  Chicago  and  Blue 
Island  were  now  working  two  engines  (this  com- 
pany generally  worked  ten),  manned  by  scabs,  one 
of  whom  was  a  nigger. 

A  committee  man  from  the  Grand  Trunk  re- 
ported that  only  three  men  had  returned  to 
work. 

He  said  a, personal  friend  of  mine,  a  business 
man  from  Yalpraiso,  and  whom  I  know,  is  in  touch 
with  the  Grand  Trunk,  informed  me  that  a  Grand 
Trunk  official  had  said  in  his  presence  that  his 
company  could  not  do  business  unless  they  made 
some  kind  of  a  settlement  with  the  switchmen. 

Through  John  Downey  and  Miles  Barrett,  of 
the  Switchmen's  Mutual  Aid  Association,  a  meet- 
ing of  switchmen  was  called  in  a  hall  at  Eden  to 
induce  the  switchmen  to  return  to  work.  This 
meeting  was  "packed"  in  order  to  secure  a  major- 
ity vote  in  favor  of  returning  but  the  scheme  did 
not  work. 

All  the  officials  on  the  Pan  Handle  admitted 
that  they  could  do  nothing  without  the  assistance 
of  the  old  men.  They  had  a  few  "stake"  men 
whom  they  were  paying  $5.00  per  day,  but  not 
enough  to  do  any  business. 

At  Union  Stock  Yards  all  switchmen  and  as- 


144  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT, 

sistant  yard  masters  were  out,  and  at  the  yard  of 
the  Street  Stable  Car  Co.  out  of  300  men  only 
three  were  at  work. 

All  men  at  the  Burton  Stock  Car  Co.,  the 
Canada  Cattle  Car  Co.  and  the  American  Life 
Stock  Co.'s  yards  were  out,  and  refused  to  work 
under  police  protection.  At  Armour's  car 
shops  only  nine  men  returned  out  of  sixty  who 
went  on  strike,  and  at  Swifts  only  five  out  of 
forty-two.  The  yard  track-men  were  all  out,  as 
were  also  the  Illinois  Central  switchmen  and  the 
Rock  Island  machinists  and  boiler  makers. 

This  was  the  condition  of  the  strike  in 
Chicago  and  the  same  existed  in  all  parts  of  the 
strike  district.  Messages  were  received  from 
many  points  saying  that  only  those  men  who  were 
subservient  to  the  orders  of  their  chiefs  had  re- 
turned to  work,  and  from  some  points  came  the 
news  that  the  strike  had  gained  strength  owing 
to  the  arrest  of  President  Debs. 

The  enemies  of  the  American  Railway  Union 
had  now  began  a  systematic  course— as  dark 
and  devilish  as  it  was  designing — of  poisening 
the  public  mind  against  Debs,  who  was,  so  to 
speak,  a  gagged  prisoner  and  unable  to  defend 
himself. 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  145 

Such  reports  as:  Mrs.  Highenbotham  was 
dying  in  Montana  and  Mr.  Highenbotham  ap- 
pealed to  Mr.  Debs  to  allow  her  to  be  brought 
home  by  special  train  and  see  her  friends,  and  Mr. 
Debs'  brutal  answer  that  not  a  wheel  would 
turn. 

Whole  columns  of  such  falsehoods  were  pub- 
lished and  circulated  broadcast  throughout  the 
land,  but  not  one  word  was  written  of  the  gener- 
ous acts  of  this  noble  hearted  man.  When  he 
was  seen  to  pause  in  the  most  trying  moment  of 
his  life  to  listen  to  the  tale  of  distress  and  suffering 
related  by  a  poor  widow  woman,  and  going 
down  into  his  pocket,  hand  her  a  five  dollar  bill, 
all  he  had  with  him,  this  great  and  just  pubhc 
press  was  silent. 

Then  the  blacklisting  of  ex-employes  began, 
the  Missouri  Pacific  taking  the  initiatory-  step. 
The  following  certificate  given  to  a  yard  clerk  will 
speak  for  itself. 

"This  is  to  certify  that has  been  em- 
ployed in  the  capacity  of  yard  clerk  of  the 
Missouri  Pacific  system  from  April,  1893  to 
June,  1894,  at  which  time  it  was  necessary  to 
lay  him  off  on  account  of  a  strike  in  the  yards. 
He  applied  for   work   on  July   18th,  but  in  the 


146  THE  PTJLLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

meantime  it  was  learned  that  he  was  a  member 
of  the  American  Railway  Union  and  was  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  strike  movement,  so  we  could 
not  re-employ  him.  His  work  and  conduct  up  to 
the  time  of  the  strike  was  perfectly  satisfactory. 

J.  S.  Jones, 

Terminal  Supt." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


TRIAL    OF    DEBS. 


On  the  23d  day  of  July,  the  day  set  for  the 
trial  of  the  officers  of  the  American  Railway 
Union, — Debs,  Howard,  Rodgers  and  Kelliher  w^ere 
on  hand  to  answer  to  the  charge  of  contempt. 

The  court  room  was  densely  packed,  when 
Judges  Wood  of  Indianapolis  and  Grosscup  of 
Chicago  entered  and  Judge  Wood  raised  a  serious 
objection  to  the  crowded  condition,  saying  that 
only  those  finding  seats  should  be  allowed  to 
remain, — lawyers,  and  possibly  reporters. 

After  signing  and  swearing  to  the  answers, 
the  defendants  filed  in  at  11:40  and  Judge  Wood 
asked  if  the  Santa  Fe  road  was  represented. 
Attorney  Miller  stepped  forward  and  was  asked 
if  both  proceedings  could  not  be  heard  at  the 
same  time.  Judge  Wood  favored  this  to  save 
time,  and  it  was  finally  agreed  that  if  the  Santa 
Fe  cases  be  heard  later  the  government  testimony 
on  this  bearing  be  admitted.  Attorney  Gregory 
thereupon  submitted  the  answers  to  the  informa- 


148  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

tion  filed  before  Judge  Seaman  in  the  contempt 
proceedings,  and  suggested  that  the  trial  for  which 
the  defendents  had  given  bail  be  immediate  and 
have  precedence  over  the  contempt  proceedings. 
Judge  Woods  said  that  the  court  could  decide  upon 
a  motion  for  delay,  much  more  intelligently  could 
they  have  the  government  information  and  the 
ansveers  filed  by  the  defendants.  Attorney 
Milchrist  then  read  the  court  the  information. 

As  Attorney  Gregory  had  previously  moved 
that  the  information  be  dismissed  and  the  defen- 
dents discharged  on  their  sworn  answers.  Attor- 
ney Erwin  followed  by  reading  the  answers. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  reading  he  said  that 
the  defendents  had  made  and  filed  a  motion  to 
quash,  holding  that  the  information  ^vas  not 
sufficient.  The^^  now  asked  that  the  defendents 
be  discharged,  and  also  that  the  district  attorney 
and  government  counsel  to  elect  whether  they 
should  proceed  under  the  indictment  or  under  the 
contempt  cases.  No  man  could  be  tried  twice 
for  the  same  offense.  Judge  Wood  said  that  the 
counsel  for  the  government  could  proceed  with 
either  case.  Attorney  Walker  elected  to  go  ahead 
with  the  contempt  proceedings. 

Attorney  Gregory  in   the  opening   made    an 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  149 

eloquent  appeal  for  a  trial  by  jury  instead  of  a 
criminal  proceeding  in  a  contempt  case,  as  he  held 
the  present  proceeding  to  be.  He  cited  a  number 
of  authorities  in  support  of  his  j^osition.  He 
argued  that  it  was  the  rule  that  there  could  be  no 
appeal  from  the  decision  of  a  federal  court  in  a 
contempt  case,  and  that  consequently,  where  the 
question  of  a  crime  was  involved,  a  sentence  from 
the  court  would  practically  be  a  conviction  on  the 
original  criminal  charge  without  a  trial  by  jury 
which  is  guaranteed  by  the  constitution. 

Mr.  Gregory  then  took  up  the  question  of  the 
motion  to  dismiss  the  bill  on  the  grounds  that 
the  information  did  not  set  out  in  specific  forms 
any  violation  of  the  specifications  in  the  injunc- 
tion granted  by  the  United  States  court. 

He  held  that  the  men  had  a  right  to  combine, 
choose  leaders  to  advise,  and  quit  work  if  they 
wished  to  do  so  and  persuade  others  to  quit 
work,  that  the  injunctions  did  not  prohibit  them 
from  doing  so.  Judge  Wood  asked  if  he  considered 
that  the  defendents  had  a  right  to  ask  men  to 
tumble  goods  out  of  cars  that  were  ready  for 
transportation.  Mr,  Gregory  repHed  that  he  did 
not  consider  that  the^^  had  any  such  right,  and 
claimed  that  there  was  nowhere  in  the  informa- 


150  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

tion  a  distinct  allegation  that  the  defendants  had 
counselled  violence  or  infractions  of  the  orders  in 
the  injunction.  While  he  was  willing  to  admit 
that  violence  had  been  done  during  the  present 
strike,  nothing  was  charged  in  the  information 
that  the  violence  was  due  to  the  acts  of  the 
defendents. 

Attorney  Walker  for  the  government  followed. 
He  held  that  the  defendants  had  no  right  to  go  into 
other  states  and  persuade  men  to  quit  work  for 
the  purpose  of  paralyzing  railroads,  and  that  the 
issuance  of  these  orders  was  a  wailful  and  vicious 
violation  of  the  order  of  the  court. 

Mr.  Walker  said  the  telegrams  were  the 
strongest  evidence  in  the  hands  of  the  state  to 
show  that  this  had  been  done.  He  spoke  for 
three  quarters  of  an  hour  and  directed  his  re- 
marks more  to  the  general  charge  against  the 
defendents  for  violation  of  the  injunction,  than  to 
the  legal  points  raised  by  Mr.  Gregory. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  answers  filed 
by  the  attorneys  for  the  defense,  was  a  complete 
denial  of  the  charges. 

After  hearing  all  the  arguments,  Judges  Wood 
and  Grosscup  decided  that  the  contempt  proceed- 
ings against  Mr.  Debs  and  the  others,  were  in  the 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  ISl 

nature  of  proceedings  in  equity,  and  therefore  the 
defendants  could  not  be  discharged  on  their  denial 
of  the  charges  under  oath, 

Mr.  Walker  gave  as  an  excuse  for  wanting 
the  case  heard  at  once,  that  the  defendants  were 
liable  to  continue  calling  out  the  men  unless  they 
were  restrained  from  so  doing  by  the  court. 

''Then,"  said  Mr.  Gregory,  "you  wish  the 
court  to  practically  call  the  strike  off." 

Mr.  Walker  smiled  and  said  that  such  an 
order  would  suit  him  all  right. 

Judge  Wood  then  added  that  it  was  within 
the  bounds  of  the  injunction  called,  for  him  to 
insist  that  the  strike  be  declared  off. 

Attorney  Greeting,  reviewing  the  information, 
raised  the  insufficiency  of  the  allegations,  he  also 
raised  the  question  of  the  bearing  of  the  statutes 
under  which  the  defendants  were  enjoined. 

The  following  are  the  sections  of  acts  under 
which  the  United  States  courts  issued  injunctions 
restraining  the  American  Railway  Union,  its 
officers  or  agents,  from  interfering  in  any  way 
with  the  interstate  traffic  on  railroads. 

"Section  1.  Every  contract  combination  in 
the  form  of  trust  or  otherwise,  or  conspiracy  in 
restraint  of  trade  or  commerce  among-  the  several 


152  THE   PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

states  or  witli  foreign  nations,  is  hereby  declared 
to  be  illegal.  Every  person  wbo  sball  make  any 
such  contract  or  engage  in  any  such  combination 
or  conspiracy,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  mis- 
demeanor, and  on  conviction  thereof  shall  be  pun- 
ished by  a  fine  not  exceeding  $5,000  or  by  im- 
prisonment not  exceeding  one  year,  or  by  both ; 
said  punishments  at  the  discretion  of  the  court. 

"Section  2.  Any  person  who  shall  monopo- 
lize or  attempt  to  monopolize  or  combine  or  con- 
spire with  any  other  person  or  persons  to 
monopolize,  any  part  of  the  trade  or  com- 
merce among  the  several  states  or  foreign 
powers  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor 
and  upon  conviction  thereof  shall  be  punished 
etc. 

"Section  3.  Every  contract  combination  in 
form  of  trust  or  otherwise  or  conspiracy  in  re- 
straint of  commerce  or  trade  in  anj^  territory  of 
the  United  States  or  of  the  District  of  Columbia, 
or  in  restraint  of  trade  or  commerce  between  any 
such  territory  and  another,  or  between  any 
such  territory  or  territories  and  any  state  or 
states  or  the  District  of  Columbia  or  with  foreign 
nations,  or  between  the  District  of  Columbia  and 
any  other  state  or  states  or  foreign  nations,  is  here- 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  153 

by  declared  illegal.  Every  person  who  shall  make 
any  such  contract  or  engage  in  any  such  combina- 
tion or  conspiracy  shall  be  declared  guilty  of  a 
misdemeanor  and  punished  as  in  the  case  of 
Sections  1  and  2. 

"Section  8.  The  word  person  or  persons 
wherever  used  shall  be  deemed  to  include  corpora- 
tions and  associations  existing  under,  or  authori- 
zed by,  the  laws  of  either  the  United  States,  the 
laws  of  any  of  the  territories,  the  laws  of  any 
state  or  the  laws  of  any  foreign  country." 

"This  law  was  never  intended  to  cover  the 
case  of  these  defendants,"  said  Mr.  Greeting.  "It 
is  clearly  directed  at  the  trusts  and  combinations 
which  conspire  to  rob  such  people  as  the  defen- 
dants. It  seems  to  me  that  the  district  attorney 
would  have  been  acting  more  within  the  spirit  of 
the  law  if  he  had  charged  the  railroads  and  the 
Pullman  Palace  Car  Co.,  with  conspiracy  to  mon- 
opolize interstate  commerce,  as  it  is  a  well  known 
fact  that  the  railroads  have  contracted  with 
Pullman  to  hatd  none  but  his  cars." 

A  sickly  smile  spread  over  the  features  of  the 
railroad  attorneys  present.  It  was  evident  that 
the  words  of  Mr.  Greeting  sunk  deeper  than  some 
of  them  would  care  to  acknowledge. 


164  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

District  Attorney  Milchrist  argued  that  tlie 
court  had  perfect  jurisdiction  in  these  cases,  he 
held  that  the  government  derived  revenue  from 
postal  service  and  interstate  commerce.  It  had 
suffered  in  a  pecuniary  way  hence  the  bill  of  infor- 
mation filed,  had  a  proper  place  in  court. 

In  regard  to  the  information  and  answers, 
Mr.  Milchrist  said:  "Either  the  counsel  for  the 
government  deserved  to  be  disbarred  for  willful 
misconduct  for  filing  it,  or  the  defendants  in  their 
sworn  answer  embodying  a  sweeping  denial  of  the 
charge  in  the  information  had  been  guilty  of  rank 
perjury." 

Attorney  Erwin  then  proceeded,  prefacing  his 
remarks  with  the  statement  that  this  was  a  court 
of  equity.  When  these  defendants  denied  under 
oath  before  the  court,  the  allegations  made  in  the 
bill,  equity  shut  its  doors.  There  was  a  remedy 
at  law.  The  men  could  be  punished  for  perjury  in 
swearing  falsely  in  their  answers.  No  court  of 
equity  could  hear  such  a  case.  Mr.  Erwin  held 
that  the  information  was  filed  in  equity  and  that 
the  answer  filed  by  the  defendants  was  final  and 
the  remedy  then  was  at  law  in  a  charge  of  per- 
jury. 

"Is  it  any  indication  of     the  power    of    a 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCO'fT.  155 

court,'*  interupted  Judge  Wood,  "to  hold  a  man 
convicted  on  a  charge  of  perjurj^?  " 

Attorney  Erwin  said  that  the  perjury  charge 
could  purge  the  defendants  in  the  case  of  con- 
tempt. 

"You  say  in  your  answer,"  said  Judge  Wood, 
"that  the  defendants  deny  ordering  strikes  be- 
cause it  was  not  in  their  power  to  do  so.  Is  it 
not  enough  to  deny-that  you  ordered  the  men  out 
without  going  further  and  denying  that  you 
advised  them  in  this  matter." 

"We  say,"  answered  Mr.  Erwin  " that  every 
strike  was  voted,  or  by  a  majority  of  the  Ameri- 
can Raihvay  Union  men  upon  each  road  upon 
which  there  had  been  a  strike.  The  defendants 
deny  the  power  to  order  or  coerce  the  members 
of  the  American  Railway  Union." 

When  questioned  as  to  the  answers  denying 
the  telegrams  Mr.  Erwin  said  the  denials  were 
sweeping.  They  had  covered  every  point  and 
purged  themselves  of  any  desire  to  disregard  the 
orders  of  the  court  and  the  proceedings  should  be 
dismissed.  He  said:  "Had  Special  Counsel 
Walker  who  set  before  the  grand  jury  made  his 
charges  more  specific,  and  not  sought  to  pre- 
judice the   minds    of    the   court  by   holding  his 


156  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

averments  for  the  attachment  proceedings,  and 
making  them  in  vague  and  declamatory  charges." 

Judge  Wood  said  if  the  defendants  had  asked 
for  more  specific  charges  he  thought  the  court 
would  have  granted  it. 

Attorney  Erwin  here  remarked  that  they 
would  prefer  to  make  a  motion  to  quash,  which 
Judge  Wood  announced  could  not  be  done  in  this 
case  unless  the  bill  was  wholly  defective. 

Mr.  Erwin  said  that  Attorney  Walker  had 
draw  the  bill  up  hastily,  and  it  was  signed  only 
by  himself  and  the  district  attorney,  who  verified 
it  merely  by  belief.  He  urged  that  the  court 
should  not  aid  the  information  by  continuing  the 
consideration  of  the  imperfectly  drawn  and  inade- 
quate bill.  The  court  should  not  be  a  detective  to 
ferret  out  the  alleged  truths  of  certain  charges  the 
evidence  of  which  should  have  been  collected  by 
the  government  officers  before  a  rule  against  the 
defendants  was  issued. 

Mr.  Bancroft  for  the  Santa  Fe  followed  Mr. 
Erwin.  He  vigorously  defended  the  information 
filed,  and  proceeded  to  color  the  telegrams  ad- 
mitted by  the  defendants,  to  suit  the  purposes  of 
the  government. 

After  a  legal  tilt  between  the  counsel  on  both 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  157 

sides,  Judge  Wood  overruled  the  motion  of  defend- 
ant's counsel  to  quash  the  information,  and  post- 
poned the  case  until  September  5. 

In  conclusion  he  said  that  from  what  he  had 
heard,  he  thought  it  necessary  for  the  court  to 
have  its  hand  on  the  matter.  It  was  evident,  he 
said,  that  the  defense  intended  to  attempt  to  put 
forward  a  quantity  of  irrelevant  matter  as  to  the 
allegations  regarding  a  combination  on  the  part 
of  the  railroads.  He  said  that  while  it  was  irreve- 
lant  he  would  he«ir  it  as  a  matter  of  curiosity 
and  for  public  disclosure. 

The  above  synopsis  of  the  jjroceedings  of  the 
trial,  will  give  a  fair  idea  of  the  course  the  govern- 
ment—on behalf  of  the  railroads  — persued  in  con- 
ducting the  prosecution  of  the  officers  of  the  Amer- 
ican Railway  Union. 

After  a  conference  with  their  counsel— al- 
though opposed  to  it  on  principle— the  officers  of 
the  American  Railway  Union  decided  to  give 
bail. 

This  decision  was  due  to  the  fact  that  matters 
of  an  important  nature  demanded  their  imme- 
diate attention.  They  were  placed  under  $7,000 
bonds  each,  signed  by  Wm.  Skakel  and  Wm.  Fitz- 


168  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

gerald,  these  gentlemen  qualifying  to  the  extent  of 
$50,000  and  $250,000  respectively. 

For  the  time  being  the  officers  of  the  Amer- 
ican Railway  Union  were  free  men. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

A    CONVENTION  OF  THE  AMERICAN  RAILWAY  UNION 
CALLED  TO  TAKE  ACTION  ON  THE  STRIKE. 

In  an  editorial  on  the  trial,  headed :  The 
Press  against  Justice,  the  Chicago  Times  had  this 
to  say :  "  When  it  became  evident  that  the  rights 
and  actions  of  E.  V.  Debs  and  his  associates  in 
the  American  Railway  Union  strike  were  to  be 
reviewed  in  court  this  paper  said  editorially: 
"The  Times  appeals  to  its  contemporaries  and  to 
the  people  to  join  with  it  in  avoiding  all  clamor 
which  may  in  the  least  degree  influence  the 
findings  of  the  court  or  bring  its  proceedings  into 
contempt."  It  appears  that  the  appeal  fell  upon 
deaf  ears. 

''Such  papers  as  the  Tribune  and  the  Evening 
Journal  seized  upon  the  very  first  utterance  of  Mr. 
Debs'  counsel  as  an  opportunity  for  insidious 
effort  to  prejudice  the  court  and  the  people 
against  the  cause  of  the  labor  leaders. 

"Two  of  the  editorials  and  two  of  what  it 


160  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

calls  editorialettes  were  necessary  to  the  Tribune 
yesterday  in  order  to  give  its  advice  to  the  prose- 
cuting lawyers  and  the  court  proper  expression. 
The  other  organs  of  plutocracy  though  less  lavish 
of  editorial  space,  emploj^ed  their  news  columns 
to  the  same  end.  The  first  strike  of  the  allied 
newspapers  is  to  pronunce  the  opening  plea  of  the 
counsel  for  the  defense,  Mr.  Erwin,  in  effect  an  as- 
sertion of  the  gospel  of  anarchy. 

''Overworked  as  it  is  by  the  biggotted  press  the 
word  anarchy  still  serves  as  a  more  or  less  affec- 
tive bogyman  to  frighten  timid  and  ill-informed 
people,  but  no  one  who  will  read  the  reports  of 
Mr.  Erwin's  address  will  find  any  anarchistic 
doctrines  lurking  therein. 

"  He  charged  that  Pullman  and  the  railroad 
managers  had  conspired  together  against  the  in- 
terest of  workingmen,  that  the  manner  of  the 
conspiracy  made  resort  to  the  law  hopeless,  that 
lawmakers  could  not  or  would  not  act,  and  under 
these  conditions  the  men  were  justified  in  com- 
bining, resisting  and  refusing  to  work  longer  for 
Mr.  Pullman  or  the  roads  allied  with  him. 

"The  Times  is  unable  to  discern  the  savory  of 
anarchy  in  that.  It  is  in  effect  only  a  declaration 
that  when  employes   combine  to    resist    them, 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  161 

neither  by  direct  statement  or  by  inuendoes  did 
the  attorney  suggest  or  excuse  violence  or  the  de- 
struction of  property.  He  erred,  the  Times 
thinks,  in  describing  Pullman's  course  of  precedure 
as  illegal,  for  unhappily,  law  as  it  stands,  pro- 
tects Pullman  in  his  most  despotic  and  oppressive 
acts.  If  Pullman's  course  had  been  illegal,  action 
at  law  instead  of  a  strike  and  boycott  would  have 
been  the  remedy  for  it,  but  with  the  exception  of 
this  over-statement  which  may  have  been  due  to 
inadvertence,  Mr.  Erwin  said  nothing  that  men 
of  fair  and  judicial  minds  can  denounce  as  false, 
and  nothing  at  all  incendiary.  The  clamor  of  the 
conspiracy  is  raised  to  defeat  justice." 

After  the  release  of  the  officers  a  meeting  was 
called  at  the  Revere  House,  of  the  directors  of  the 
American  Railway  Union.  They  concluded  to 
call  a  convention  of  the  delegates  from  the  differ- 
ent local  unions,  to  meet  in  Chicago,  August 
2d,  and  take  some  action  on  the  strike.  Each 
local  union  was  notified  of  this  action  and 
instructed  to  send  a  delegate  with  full  power  to 
act. 

After  this  meeting  of  the  officers,  they  at  once 
repaired  to  Ulrich  Hall,  where  an  enormous  crowd 
greeted  Mr.  Debs  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm. 


162  THH  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Mr.  Debs,— after  bein^  introduced  by  the 
chariman  of  the  meeting,  Mr.  Adams, —  was  given 
three  cheers  with  such  a  vim  that  the  building 
fairly  shook.  He  then  advanced  to  the  platform 
and  said:  "I  see  you  have  changed  your  quar- 
ters since  I  saw  you  before,  and  I  am  glad  to  say 
we  have  changed  ours  also. 

"When  Judge  Wood  delivered  his  ruling 
yesterday  he  declared  it  to  be  illegal  for  men  to 
combine  and  strike. 

"If  that  is  the  law,  labor  organizations  had 
better  disband  at  once.  If  we  have  no  right  to 
strike,  no  right  to  combine,  no  right  to  exercise 
the  functions  which  are  delegated  to  us,  then  we 
might  as  well  give  up  and  acknowledge  that  we 
are  slaves. 

"  If  that  is  the  law  we  have  no  right  to  resist 
or  defend  ourselves  against  the  injustice  of  em- 
ployers. 

"No  matter  how  much  has  been  said  about  the 
stars  and  stripes  and  the  freedom  of  the  working- 
man,  if  that  is  the  final  tribunal,  corporate  capi- 
tal has  the  right  to  suck  the  life  blood  from  the 
toiler  who  must  make  no  sign.  But  I  am  not 
prepared  to  believe  that  this  is  in  harmony  with 
the  constitution.    If  this  is   the  constition,  then 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  163 

our  libertj'  Is  gone.  Mr.  Erwin  sounded  the 
slogan  yesterday  when  he  declared  that  there  is  a 
higher  power  than  the  courts,  a  power  greater 
than  the  aggregated  combinations  of  capital  and 
railroads.  That  is  the  inherent  rights  of  work- 
ingmen  to  strike  at  the  polls. 

"What  we  want  then,  is  to  rid  ourselves  of 
the  old  party  shackles. 

"We  want  to  change  the  constitution  so  that 
even  federal  judges  will  be  elected  by  the  people. 
Then  no  judge  will  render  a  decision  defying  all 
law  and  justice.  It  is  wonderful  how  sensitive 
the  machinery  of  justice  is,  to  any  complaint  di- 
rected against  the  workingman. 

"But  how  is  it  when  corporations  combine? 
Is  it  of  record  that  any  officials  of  any  one  of 
them  has  ever  been  in  prison  for  violating  the 
law? 

"It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  the  Santa  Fe  has 
robbed  the  people  of  $7,000,000  in  the  face  of  the 
iuter-state  commerce  law.  Why  not  bring  these 
colossal  scoundrels  to  justice  too?  They  say  we 
must  obey  the  law.  I  say  we  are  law-abiding, 
and  I  defy  any  man  to  show  a  single  instance 
where  the  heads  of  the  labor  organization  have 
advocated  violence.    If  the  authorities  want  the 


164  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

law  respected  let  them  enforce  it  against  the  rich 
and  poor  alike. 

"In  July,  1892,  when  the  switchmen  struck, 
the  soldiers  were  called  out  to  suppress  them. 
Deputy  marshalls  set  fire  to  a  lot  of  box  cars  in 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and  this  furnished  the  railroads  an 
excuse  to  call  on  the  government  for  soldiers. 
The  railroads  are  still  violating  the  eight  hour 
law  for  which  the  men  struck.  They  arrested  the 
switchmen  while  the  corporations  are  still 
allowed  to  trample  the  law  under  foot. 

"Is  not  that  enough  to  bring  disrespect  of  the 
law  ?  As  it  is  now,  the  whole  thing  is  a  roaring 
farce.  Has  anybody  ever  heard  of  soldiers  being 
called  out  to  guard  the  rights  of  workingmen  ? 
Whatever  else  I  have  suffered  myself,  I  have  not 
lost  the  right  of  free  speech.  If  Judge  Wood  ex- 
pounds the  law  I  would  rather  rot  in  jail  than  be 
an  alleged  freeman.  There  it  no  man  in  the 
country  who  can  directly  charge  me  with  violat- 
ing the  law  of  this  country.  Did  any  one  of  you 
ever  hear  me  advocate  violence?  (A  mighty  no 
went  up  in  response.)  On  the  other  hand  did  any- 
one here  ever  hear  me  counsel  the  men  to  be  frank 
and  straight  forward,  and  honest  and  law-abid- 
ing in  all  they  did  ?  " 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  165 

The  audience  shouted  yes  to  this  and  President 
Debs  continued : 

"  Before  we  get  through  with  this  trial  it  will 
be  shown  that  the  real  conspirators  are  the  rail- 
road managers.  Then  if  I  go  to  the  penitentiary 
Mr.  Egan  will  have  the  destinction  of  accompany- 
ing me.  We  will  produce  the  proof  that  the  real 
purpose  of  the  General  Managers  Association  was 
to  reduce  wages,  and  that  until  we  stopped  them 
on  the  Great  Northern,  they  were  going  around 
the  circle  with  that  end  in  view. 

"When  it  comes  to  striking  at  the  polls  we 
know  the  people  will  be  with  us,  it  will  be  a  con- 
test against  the  money  power  by  which  this 
country  has  been  absolutely  ruled  for  so  many 
years.  Havemeyer  goes  into  the  United  States 
Senate  and  dictates  what  the  duty  on  sugar  shall 
be,  and  all  the  people  combined  can't  stop  him. 
Let  a  poor  man  go  to  Washington  to  protest  and 
he  is  arrested  for  treading  on  the  grass. 

"I  am  a  populist  and  favor  wiping  out  both 
old  parties,  so  they  will  never  come  into  power 
again.  I  have  been  a  democrat  all  my  life  and  I 
am  ashamed  to  admit  it.  I  want  everyone  of  you 
to  go  to  the  polls  and  vote  the  peoples'  ticket." 

At  the  conclusioti    of  his  address,  Mr.  Deb.9 


166  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

announced  his  intention  of  going  to  his  home  for 
a  few  days. 

On  hearing  this,  the  members  of  the  American 
Railway  Union  determined  to  escort  him  to  the 
depot,  and,  although  they  had  but  two  hours  to 
make  arrangements,  a  procession  a  couple  of  miles 
in  length  was  formed. 

On  arrival  at  his  home  in  Terre  Haute,  Presi- 
dent Debs  was  tendered  a  great  reception.  Thou- 
sands of  his  fellow  citizens  in  all  stations  of  life 
welcomed  him  with  outstretched  arms.  Early  in 
the  evening  the  Naylor  Opera  House  was  packed 
to  completion,  and  hundreds  of  people  were  denied 
admission  owing  to  the  dense  throng  of  people 
who  wished  to  do  honor  to  this  great  leader. 
When  President  Debs  appeared  upon  the  stage  he 
was  greeted  by  a  roar  of  applause  tha.t  shook  the 
building  to  its  very  foundation.  His  eloquent 
address  on  the  strike  situation  and  the  causes  that 
led  up  to  it,  was  received  with  thunders  of  ap- 
plause. 

This  was  the  man  whom  the  corporate  courts 
had  indicted  for  criminal  conspiracy. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  STIKE  LOST. 

Through  the  machination  of  the  general  man- 
agers, the  courts  and  the  press  and  the  Benedict 
Arnolds  of  labor,  the  cause  of  the  railroad  corp- 
orations was  beginning  to  triumph.  Discouraged 
and  disheartened  by  the  treachery  in  their  own 
ranks,  a  great  many  strikers  had  lost  confidence 
in  the  success  of  their  undertaking  and  were  now 
silently  awaiting  the  result  of  the  convention 
called  at  Chicago.  This  was  made  known  on  the 
return  of  the  delegates. 

The  action  taken  was  to  decide  by  a  majority 
vote  of  each  system  whether  the  strike  would  con- 
tinue in  force  or  be  declared  off. 

After  thoroughly  discussing  the  matter,  it  was 
decided  to  call  off  the  strike  owing  to  the  fact  that 
they  were  forced  to  fight  against  overwhelming 
odds  and  rank  treachery,  and  the  men  were  in- 
structed to  make  application  for  their  positions 
at  once,  in  view  of  getting  as  many  as  possible  re- 
instated. 


168  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

This  action  was  taken  on  all  roads  witli  the 
exception  of  the  Chicago  and  Eastern  Illinois,  the 
Santa  Fe  and  the  Northern  Pacific. 

Very  few  of  the  men  were  successful  in  securing 
positions,  for  instance  at  Minnesota  Transfer  the 
switchmen  waited  on  the  superintendent  in  a 
body  (all  who  were  still  in  the  city)  and  made  ap- 
plications to  be  reinstated. 

Mr.  Dudgeon  the  superintendent,  who,  by  the 
way,  was  appointed  during  the  strike  to  fill  the 
vacancy  made  by  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Sullivan, 
informed  the  men  that  he  had  more  applications 
already  than  would  fill  all  vacancies  for  the  next 
two  years.  He  said:  "I  will  not  mislead  you 
boys  for  one  minute,  not  one  of  you  will  be  taken 
back." 

I  was  not  present  at  this  interview,  but  being 
informed  that  Mr.  Hastings,  president  of  the  com- 
pany, had  signified  his  willingness  to  hear  us,  we 
consulted  together  and  decided  to  call  on  him  at 
his  office. 

John  F.  Keenan  and  myself  were  appointed  as 
a  committee  to  confer  with  him,  and,  after  intro- 
ducing ourselves,  stated  our  mission. 

He  received  us  in  a  gentlemanly  manner,  said 
that  he  was  always  ready  to  listen  to  the  switch- 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  169 

men,  as  he  had  been  a  switchmen  himself  at  one  time, 
and  while  he  assured  us  that  he  knew  we  had  not  in- 
terfered with  the  company  property  during  the 
strike  and  conducted  ourselves  in  a  creditable 
manner,  he  could  do  nothing  for  us.  He  also  said 
that  he  had  more  respect  for  us  than  he  had  for 
those  who  were  hanging  on  the  fence,  but  he  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  employes  of  the  Minne- 
sota Transfer,  as  he  had  left  that  matter  entirely  in 
the  hands  of  the  superintendent.  We  told  him  that 
we  were  informed  that  Mr.  Dudgeon  would  take 
some  of  the  men  back  if  the  president  of  the  com- 
pany w^as  satisfied. 

"Whatever  arrangements  you  boys  make  with 
Mr.  Dudgeon  will  be  satisfactory  to  me," 
answered  Mr.  Hastings. 

He  then  referred  us  to  Mr.  Dudgeon  who  was 
present  and  w^ho  then  said  that  he  had  already 
given  us  our  answer  which  was  final.  He  said 
that  he  had  promised  steady  work  to  the  men  he 
had  already  employed  if  they  proved  themselves 
competent,  and  as  they  were  doing  the  work  satis- 
factorily, he  would  not  consider  any  more  appli- 
cations. 

This  statement  regarding  the  w^ork  we  knew 
to  be  a  bluff,  as  it  w^ould  take  an  old  switchman,  if 


170  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

unacquainted  with  this  yard,  at  least  three  months 
under  the  most  favorable  circumstances  to  learn,  if 
unaided,  enough  to  enable  him  to  give  efficient  ser- 
vice, as  the  yard  is  very  complicated.  And  again 
in  contradiction  of  this  statement  it  is  known  that 
freight  was  refused  from  different  roads  for  four 
days  at  a  time  to  enable  them  to  get  the  yard  in 
shape,  and  after  the  freight  of  twenty-four  hours 
was  received,  the  same  operation  would  be  neces- 
sary, although  they  had  the  services  of  competent 
switchmen  from  the  Omaha  and  other  railroads. 

So  speaking  for  the  Minnesota  Transfer  the 
general  managers  were  winners  so  to  speak,  in 
the  game  of  freeze  out  waged  against  the  switch- 
men. The  men  in  all  other  departments  were 
taken  back  with  but  few  exceptions,  but  it  was 
now  a  settled  fact  that  the  switchmen  must  look 
elsewhere  for  employment.  The  officials  were 
credited  with  saying  that  they  would  perma- 
nently close  the  transfer,  rather  than  reinstate  a 
single  switchman. 

It  would  be  nothing  more  than  justice  at  this 
time  to  say  that  the  former  superintendent,  Mr. 
D.  M.  Sullivan,  had  resigned  his  position  during 
the  strike  for  the  reason  that  the  management 
would  not  allow  him  to  take  back  the  old  men. 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  171 

Mr.  Sullivan  contended  that  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  operate  the  yard  without  the  assist ence  of 
a  goodly  portion  of  the  old  employes. 

In  a  newspaper  article  he  denied  that  his 
resignation  was  handed  in  on  that  account,  but 
it  is  nevertheless  credited  by  those  who  know 
him  well,  and  by  the  employes  themselves. 

We  then  applied  at  all  the  yards  in  the  Twin 
Cities  but  with  like  result,  and  although  not  told 
in  so  many  words,  we  were  given  to  understand 
that  we  were  blacklisted,  and  this  was  the  case 
not  only  with  us,  but  with  men  all  over  the 
country. 

The  Soo  Line  had  now  put  in  force  an  iron- 
clad agreement  that  all  employes  were  obliged  to 
sign  if  they  wished  to  remain  in  the  service  of  the 
company.  This  debarred  the  men  from  belonging 
to  any  labor  organization  for  five  years.  Another 
rule  put  in  force  at  this  time  was  that  engineers 
would  hire  their  own  firemen.  This  would  ap- 
pear to  be  a  blow  at  the  Brotherhood  of  Loco- 
motive Firemen. 

The  railroad  corporations  exulting  in  their 
victory,  determined  to  boj'cott  every  striker  and 
sympathizer  throughout  the  country,  as  far  as  it 
\vas  in  their  power. 


172  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

The  weapon,    that  it  was  made    a    criminal  . 
offense    for  a  striker   to  use,  and  for  which  the 
officers  of     the    American  Railway  Union  were 
sent  to  jail,  was  now  in  the  hands  of  the  railroad 
corporations  to  use  at  will. 

What  was  decided  by  the  courts  unlawful 
in  the  hands  of  the  American  Railway  Union 
■was  legal  in  the  hands  of  the  General  Man- 
agers Association.  This  the  federal  judges 
made  no  effort  to  investigate.  Judge  Wood 
said  regarding  the  charge  of  a  combination  on 
the  part  of  the  railroads,  that  while  it  was 
irrelevant  he  would  hear  it  as  a  matter  of 
curiosity. 

Expressions  like  this  emanating  from  a  judge 
of  the  United  States  court,  immediately  following 
his  ruling  against  the  strikers,  are  too  plain  to  be 
misunderstood.  While  he  might  condecend  to 
hear  the  charges  against  the  general  managers, 
it  is  very  evident  that  a  motion  to  quash  any  pro- 
ceeding against  the  corporation  would  be  granted. 
The  greatest  pressure  of  evidence  brought  to 
bear  by  the  American  Railway  Union  against  this 
illegal  combination  would  have  no  weight  with 
the  judge,  therefore  it  could  not  be  wondered 
that   when   the    General   Managers  Association 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  173 

started  a  systematic  course  of  bycotting  the 
American  Railway  Union  by  blacklisting  its  mem- 
bers, there  was  no  action  taken  to  prosecute 
them. 

The  Union  Pacific,  now  in  the  hands  of  the 
government,  not  only  discharged  every  striker 
and  sympathizer  but  blacklisted  them  also. 

This  is  a  sample  of  justice.  Some  of  the  men 
had  worked  for  the  company  for  twenty  years, 
and  the  onl}^  charge  against  them  was  that  of 
being  members  of  the  American  Railway  Union 
and  struck  in  sympathy  with  the  starving  Pull- 
man employes. 

Their  system  of  blacklisting  is  so  perfect  that 
every  avenue  of  escape  is  closed  against  an 
employe. 

They  have  what  is  known  as  the  blacklist 
book.  The  names  of  the  strikers  are  entered  in 
the  book  of  which  a  copy  is  held  by  all  railroads. 
When  a  man  makes  application  his  name  is 
taken  and  the  book  is  then  consulted.  If  his  name 
is  registered  he  is  told  that  no  more  men  are 
wanted,  if  not,  he  is  told  to  call  the  next  day,  by 
which  time,  if  he  is  a  striker,  it  is  known,  and  he 
will  have  to  travel. 

An  assumed  name  will  do  no  good,  as  he  will 


174  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

be  asked  to  give  reference  signed  by  his  last  em- 
ployer, so  you  will  see  very  plainly  tbat  the  strik- 
ers lot  is  not  a  bed  of  roses. 

President  Debs  has  been  accused  of  being  re- 
sponsible for  this  condition  of  affairs.  There 
is  absolutely  no  truth  in  that  accusation,  as 
in  the  first  place  it  was  directly  against  his 
wishes  and  advice  that  the  Pullman  employes 
struck,  and  only  after  a  personal  investigation  of 
the  case — and  realizing  that  the  causes  which  led 
to  it  would  admit  of  no  denial  that  the  men  were 
justified  in  their  action— did  he  approve  of  it. 

The  boycott  that  followed  the  Pullman  strike, 
as  has  been  previously  stated,  was  not  ordered  by 
Mr.  Debs.  He  did  not  have  the  power  to  order 
it,  therefore  he  could  not  be  held  responsible  for  the 
result. 

The  men  who  were  the  victims  of  this  unfor- 
tunate boycott,  were  themselves  responsible  for 
its  beginning,  as  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote 
they  ordered  it.  Perhaps  they  may  have  acted 
hastily,  it  has  been  stated  many  times  that  this 
was  the  case,  but  when  the  brutal  inhuman  treat- 
ment of  the  Pullman  employes  came  to  light 
through  the  investigation  of  the  delegates  to  the 
convention,  they  would  be  less  than  human  if  they 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  175 

had  refused  to  come  to  the  assistance  of  these  men 
who  were  being  ground  down  by  a  merciless  corpo- 
ration. 

After  reading  the  facts  brought  to  light  by  the 
witnesses  before  the  strike  commission  appointed 
by  President  Cleveland,  and  also  Gov.  Altgeld's 
personal  investigation  I  do  not  believe  that  any 
one  with  a  spark  of  humanity  in  his  heart  will 
condemn  them  for  their  actions. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE    COMMISSION. 

The  commission  appointed  by  President  Cleve- 
land to  investigate  the  strike  began  its  work  Aug. 
15,  at  10  o'clock  in  Judge  Grosscup's  court  room. 
Most  of  those  present  were  members  of  the  Amer- 
ican Railway  Union.  Prof.  Bemis,  of  the  Chicago 
University,  was  in  attendance.  Neither  the  Pull- 
man Company  or  the  railroad  companies  were  re- 
presented. The  witnesses  examined  were  Geo.  W. 
Howard,  vice-president  of  the  American  Railway 
Union,  and  James  R.  Sovereign,  grand  master 
workman  of  the  Knights  of  Labor.  Acting  with 
the  commission  were  B.J.  Hastings,  of  Utica, 
N.  Y.,  and  Deputy  United  States  Marshall  Bartlett. 
Chairman  Wright  announced  that  they  were  in 
session  pursuant  to  the  President's  call  which  the 
clerk  read.  This  document  directed  an  inquiry  into 
the  causes  and  the  conditions  of  the  controversy 
between  the  Illinois  Central  and  the  Rock  Island 
roads  and  their  employes.  After  the  reading 
chairman  Wright  made  the  following  statement : 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  177 

"By  the  act  recited  in  the  commission  of  the 
President  that  has  just  been  read,  this  commission 
is  directed  to  examine  into  the  causes,  contro> 
versies  and  difficulties  existing  between  the  roads 
named  and  their  employes  at  the  time  the  com- 
mission of  the  President  was  issued.  The  board  is 
constituted  as  a  temporary  body  for  this  purpose 
and  not  for  the  purpose  of  arbitrating  the  diffi- 
culties that  existed.  It  is  practically  a  court  of  in- 
quiry aud  its  proceedings  will  be  in  accordance 
with  the  usages  of  such  courts.  It  will  proceed 
first  to  hear  all  witnesses  in  behalf  of  the  employes 
and  then  those  of  the  corporations  named.  All 
such  witnesses  are  requested  to  hand  their  names 
to  the  clerk.  Under  the  law  parties  may  be  re- 
presented by  counsel  or  appear  in  person  as  they 
see  fit,  and  examine  and  cross-examine  the  wit- 
nesses. After  all  the  witnesses  have  given  their 
testimony  the  commission  will  then  consider  ar- 
guments or  suggestions  to  be  made  upon  the 
questions  before  it.  All  suggestions  and  argu- 
ments presented  in  writing  will  be  filed  and  con- 
sidered by  the  commission,  but  the  question  as  to 
how  far  the  commission  will  listen  to  parties  who 
desire  to  be  heard  orally  will  depend  upon  the 
time  left  to  the  disposal  of  the  commission  and 


178  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

will  be  determined  after  the  testimony  is  con- 
cluded. By  the  act  creating  it  this  commission 
possesses  all  the  power  and  authority  of  the 
United  States  Commissioners  appointed  by  the 
Circuit  Courts  of  the  United  States.  The  hours 
of  sitting  will  be  from  10:00  a.  m.  to  4:00  p.  m. 
Parties  and  their  counsel  and  witnesses  attending 
will  find  seats  within  the  rail." 

Vice  President  Howard  was  the  first  witness 
sworn.  In  answer  to  questions  as  to  his  age, 
residence  and  occupation,  Mr.  Howard  replied 
that  he  was  46  years  old,  resided  in  Chicago,  and 
was  vice  president  of  the  American  Railway 
Union.  For  nearly  30  years  he  had  been  iden- 
tified with  the  railroad  service  filling  positions 
from  trackman  to  general  superintendent.  He 
had  been  a  member  of  the  Yard  Masters'  Associa- 
tion, the  B.  of  L.  E.  and  0.  R.  C.  By  request  of 
Mr.  Wright  he  gave  the  following  connection  of 
the  American  Railway  Union  with  the  strike. 

"We  began  organizing  the  Pullman  employes 
in  March  of  this  year.  Early  in  May  they  struck. 
The  strike  was  voted  by  themselves  not  by  the 
American  Railway  Union,  indeed  we  advised 
against  the  strike. 

**  Immediately  after  the   strike  was  called  I 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.         "    179 

accompanied  a  committee  of  forty-three  repre- 
senting every  branch  of  the  Pullman  service  to  a 
conference  with  Mr.  Wickes  at  Pullman.  Mr. 
Pullman  refused  to  arbitrate  but  promised  to 
give  their  grievances  immediate  attention  if  they 
would  return  to  work.  I  inquired  of  Mr.  Wickes 
if  there  would  be  any  prejudice  against  the  mem- 
bers of  the  committee  and  was  assured  by  him 
that  there  would  not  be.  After  receiving  this 
assurance  from  Mr.  Wickes,  I  advised  the  men  to 
go  back  to  their  work,  which  they  did.  Next  day 
three  of  the  committee  were  discharged,  not  on 
order  or  with  the  knowledge  of  Mr.  Wickes  or 
Mr.  Pullman,  but  by  some  under  boss  in  the 
shops.  This  so  incensed  the  rest  of  the  employes 
who  considered  it  a  breach  of  promise  that  they 
unanimously  struck  again. 

"June  12,  the  convention  of  the  American 
Railway  Union  met  in  Chicago.  The  Pullman 
strikers  were  represented  by  seven  or  eight  dele- 
gates. The  situation  at  Pullman  received  con- 
sideration. A  joint  committee  representing  the 
convention  and  the  Pullman  strikers  was  ap- 
pointed to  wait  on  the  Pullman  company.  The 
committee  was  informed  that  the  Pullman 
company  would  confer  with  only  its  employes, 


180  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

consequently  this  body  was  discharged  and  a 
committee  consisting  of  Pullman  employes 
appointed.  The  action  of  the  Pullman  company 
was  reported  to  the  American  Railway  Union 
convention  whereupon  each  delegate  wired  his 
local  union  for  instructions.  The  result  of  this 
was  that  the  members  of  the  American  Railway 
Union  all  over  the  country  voted  to  discontinue 
handling  Pullman  cars  if  at  the  end  of  five  days 
from  that  date  the  Pullman  company  refused  to 
arbitrate  with  its  employes. 

* '  In  this  connection  I  wish  to  say  that  Mr. 
Pullman  stated  to  the  committee  of  forty-three, 
in  my  hearing,  that  his  employes  at  that  time 
owed  him  $70,000  for  rent  and  that  he  had  not 
pushed  them  for  payment  which  fact  clearly 
shows  that  his  men  were  not  making  enough  to 
pay  rent." 

Mr.  Wright:  "That  was  the  boycott  order, 
was  it?" 

Mr.  Howard:  "I  do  not  use  the  word  boy- 
cott. The  action  taken  was  simply  that  members 
of  the  American  Railway  Union  would  not 
handle  Pullman  cars. 

"Two  days  before  the  limit  of  five  days — the 
dates  I  do  not  now  recall— but   I  will  furnish 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  181 

them— the  General  Managers'  Association  took 
action  declaring  that  they  would  share  the  ex- 
pense ot  whipping  the  American  Railway  Union. 

"Pullman  would  not  arbitrate  and  first  the 
men  on  one  road  then  on  another  refused  to 
handle  Pullman  cars.  They  did  not  decline  to 
handle  other  cars,  but  switchmen,  you  under- 
stand, would  not  attach  Pullmans  to  trains. 
Engineers,  conductors,  firemen  and  trainmen 
would  not  take  out  trains  which  Pullman  cars 
were  attached  to.  There  was  no  attempt  to  in- 
terfere with  the  mails  but  on  the  contrary  every 
effort  in  our  power  was  made  to  help  the  roads 
carry  them.  The  companies  held  the  mails  in 
their  determination  to  attach  Pullman  cars  to 
trains. 

"  Of  my  personal  knowledge  I  know  of  a  road 
that  abandoned  a  mail  train  to  take  out  an  ex- 
cursion train,  not  having  crews  to  take  out  both. 
In  another  instance  I  know  of  a  mail  train  going 
out  on  the  order  of  the  railway  oflScials  after  the 
Pullmans  had  been  cut  off  by  the  employes. 
Things  went  on  in  this  way  for  several  days.  No 
violence  was  committed  by  the  employes  and  the 
police  were  in  full  control  of  the  situation  to 
prevent  violence  from  outsiders. 


182  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

"The  first  pistol  was  drawn  by  one  Miller, 
an  employe  of  the  Tribune  at  Blue  Island,  wholly 
without  cause,  and  after  the  troops  were  on  the 
ground.  The  violence  that  was  afterward  com- 
mitted was  not  as  was  believed  by  members  of 
the  American  Railway  Union  but  by  out- 
siders —  some  acting  in  passion,  because  they 
saw  in  the  presence  of  the  soldiers  an 
instrument  of  tyranny.  Others  in  a  spirit  of 
mischief  and  love  of  destruction  and  others 
still  —  hired  by  the  General  Managers  in 
order  to  create  public  sentiment  against  us. 
Yesterday  I  gave  the  mayor  of  Chicago  the  name 
of  a  man  who  claimed,  while  under  the  influence 
of  liquor  to  have  received  $400  for  burning  cars. 
The  Committee  of  safety,  at  Springfield,  sent  us 
the  names  of  three  men  who  quarreled  about  the 
division  of  $500  received  for  burning  cars.  $200 
of  which  was  paid  in  advance  by  John  M.  Eagan, 
of  the  General  Managers'  Association." 

Regarding  the  motives  actuating  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  American  Railway  Union  Mr.  Howard 
denied  that  it  was  to  destroy  the  old  organiza- 
tions but  because  they  no  longer  fulfilled  the 
necessities  of  the  situation.  If  the  old  brother- 
hoods could  get  together  amicably  there  would  be 


The  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  183 

no  need  of  the  American  Railway  Union,  but 
they  never  can.  There  are  two  many  causes  for 
jealousy,  for  instance:  There  are  10,000  locomo- 
tive engineers  who  are  not  in  the  B.  of  L.  E.  but 
are  members  of  the  B.  of  L.  F.  In  case  of  a 
grievance  the  engineers  are  divided  and  are  repre- 
sented by  two  organizations.  The  Brotherhood  of 
Trainmen  contains  men  who  have  been  pro- 
moted to  conductors  causing  a  friction  between 
these  two  orders. 

Mr.  Wright:  "Then  the  sole  purpose  of  the 
American  Railway  Union  in  taking  the  action 
it  did  was  to  oppose  the  Pullman  company  and 
it  was  not  actuated  by  any  desire  to  injure  the 
other  railway  organizations  ?  " 

Mr.  Howard:  "That  is  it  exactly.  After 
the  action  taken  by  the  General  Managers'  Assoc- 
iation we  had  to  act  as  we  did  or  lie  down." 

Mr.  Wright:  "Did  the  officers  of  the  Amer- 
ican Railway  Union  advise  the  men  on  roads 
other  than  those  using  Pullmans  to  go  on 
strike?" 

Mr,  Howard:  "The  men  on  all  roads  repre- 
sented by  the  General  Managers' Association  were 
advised  to  go  out  on  strike." 

Mr.  Kernan:     "Was  this  order  extented  to 


184  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

roads  not  using  Pullman  cars  or  ^ivliicli  were  not 
represented  in  the  General  Managers'  Associ- 
ation ?  " 

Mr.  Howard:    "No,  sir." 

Mr.  Kernan :    "Were  tliere  any  such  road ?  " 

Mr.  Howard:  "Yes.  General  Manager  Clark, 
of  the  Mobile  Sc  Ohio,  sent  us  word  that  his  road 
would  drop  the  Pullman  service  if  the  men  would 
continue  at  work.  We  advised  the  men  to  return 
to  work  under  those  conditions,  but  the  men  at 
St.  Louis  argued  that  such  action  would  weaken 
their  cause  and  refused  to  take  our  advice  in  the 
matter." 

Mr.  Worthingford :  "How  did  you  advise  all 
other  organizations  to  go  on  a  sympathetic 
strike?" 

Mr.  Howard:  "We  did  not  ad^^se  nor  even 
request  other  organizations  to  declare  a  strike. 
We  invited  the  heads  of  all  labor  organizations  to 
come  here  and  aid  us  by  their  advice  or  in  any 
way  they  saw  fit  to  help  us.  I  think  Mr. 
Debs  sent  the  invitation.  When  the  representa- 
tives of  the  other  labor  organizations  met  here,  we 
went  before  the  body  and  explained  the  entire  situ- 
ation. They  asked  Mr.  Debs  what  he  wished 
them  to  do.    He  replied  that  he  did  not  ask  any- 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  185 

thing  of  them  but  left  it  to  their  best  judgment 
and  conscience  to  take  such  measures  as  would 
help  bring  the  trouble  to  an  end.  Mr.  Debs  read  a 
communication  \Yhich  he  had  prepared  to  present 
to  the  general  managers,  and  asked  the  represen- 
tatives at  the  conference  if  they  would  act  as  a 
board  of  arbitration  or  assume  the  role  of  peace- 
makers. President  Gompers  of  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor,  seemed  afraid  that  such  action 
would  involve  the  other  organizations  in  some 
way  and  hesitated  to  accept  our  request  to  take 
the  communication  to  the  general  managers.  We 
then  concluded  to  ask  Mayor  Hopkins  to  present 
our  communication.  The  mayor  willingly  granted 
our  request." 

Mr.  Kernan:  "Was  any  written  record  kept 
of  that  conference  of  the  heads  of  the  labor  organ- 
izations which  was  held  at  the  Briggs  House?  " 

Mr.  Howard:     "I  do  not  know." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "What  records  have 
you  of  the  proceedings  of  your  convention  as  to 
who  invited  the  heads  of  other  labor  organiz- 
ations to  meet  here  in  conference,  and  what  they 
were  expected  to  do  ?  " 

Mr.  Howard  :  "I  think  it  was  decided  at  the 
convention  of  the  American  Railway  Union,  which 


i86  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

met  here  June  12,  to  extent  such  an  invitation.  I 
know  it  was  talked  over  then." 

Commissioner  Wright:  " Then  the  American 
Railway  Union  did  not  advise  a  sympathetic 
strike  of  all  organizations." 

Mr.  Howard:  *'No,  sir.  Mr.  Debs  left  that 
question  to  the  judgment  and  conscience  of  the 
men  themselves." 

Commissioner  Wright:  "Was  the  action  of 
the  convention  of  June  12  a  strike  ?  " 

Mr.  Howard :      "Well,  it  was  called  a  strike." 

Commissioner  Worthington:  "Was  the  com- 
munication you  referred  to  presented  to  the  gen- 
eral managers?  " 

Mr.  Howard:  "Yes,  sir,  and  returned  with- 
out an  answer  further  than  a  statement  that  the 
General  Managers' Association  had  no  business  to 
transact  with  the  American  Railway  Union  or  its 
representatives." 

Mr.  Kernan :  "  It  is  charged  that  your  organ- 
ization, like  others,  encouraged  its  members  to 
persistently  interfere  with  and  prevent  unorgan- 
ized labor  from  taking  positions  given  up  by  their 
striking  members.    Is  that  charge  true  ?  " 

Mr. Howard :  "It  cannot  be  shown  in  one  in- 
stance that  anything  of  the  kind  has  been  done." 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  l87 

Commissioner  Kernan :  "You  won't  go  so 
far  as  to  say  that  no  interference  of  the  sort 
alluded  to  has  ever  been  engaged  in  ?  " 

Mr.  Howard:  " Certainly  not.  I  mean  that 
such  .interference  was  not  authorized  or  counte- 
nanced by  the  vmion." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "Did  you  take  any 
steps  to  prevent  such  interference?  " 

Mr.  Howard:  "We  have  taken  the  ground 
that  when  we  go  out  on  strike  not  to  interfere 
with  any  of  the  new  men  the  companies  may 
employ." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "You  do  coun- 
tenance advice  to  such  men  not  to  take  the  places 
of  strikers?  " 

Mr.  Howard:  "Oh,  yes.  We  claim  the  right 
to  ask  new  men  not  to  take  our  places." 

Mr.  Kernan:  " Is  it  not  a  fact  that  such  in- 
terviews usuall}^  result  in  violence?  " 

Mr.  Howard:  "No.  I  think  the  rule  is  to 
the  contrar3\  We  go  no  further  than  to  request 
the  men  to  quit  work  and  to  commit  no 
violence." 

Commissioner  Kernan :  "Is  there  any  punish- 
ment for  violation  of  that  rule?  " 

Mr.  Howard:     "No.     No  organization  has 


188  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

any  power  to  punish  a  member  for  violation  of 
such  rule  except  by  expulsion.  We  leave  the 
punishment  of  such  cases  to  the  civil  authorities." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "Don't  you  think 
some  steps  should  be  taken  by  labor  unions  to 
punish  their  members  who  violate  the  rules  in 
that  respect?  " 

Mr.  Howard:  "Yes,  sir,  I  do,  and  we  started 
out  to  do  so  here  during  the  strike  but  the  trouble 
assumed  such  vast  proportions  that  .it  was  im- 
possible to  do  anything  in  that  direction.  In  the 
case  of  the  Great  Northern  strike  we  appointed 
committees  to  guard  the  company's  property, 
and  the  men  were  instructed  to  shoot  anj^one 
found  in  the  act  of  destroying  same." 

Commissioner  Kernan  :  "What,  as  a  rule  has 
been  your  experience  in  strikes  where  violence  was 
restored  to?  " 

Mr,  Howard:  "The  men  have  always  been 
defeated." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "Then  a  resort  to 
violence  is  rather  detrimental  to  the  cause  of  the 
strikers?" 

Mr.  Howard:  "Decidedly  so.  We  want  pub- 
lic opinion  with  us  in  a  strike." 

Commissioner  Kernon :      "Do  vou  know  of 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  189 

any  organization  that  disciplines  its  members  for 
restoring  to  violence?  " 

Mr.  Howard:  "None,  excepting  the  Ameri- 
can Railway  Union.  Our  argument  is  that  the 
onl}'-  weapons  labor  has  to  fight  its  battles  with 
are  the  strike  and  the  boycott.  There  is  some 
talk  about  the  ballot  but  some  questions  cannot 
be  settled  by  the  ballot.  Only  the  array  of  labor 
in  one  solid  phalanx  will  give  it  the  power 
that  will  make  strikes  unnecessary." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "Does  not  history 
show  that  on  account  of  jealousies  in  your  own 
ranks  a  complete  organization  of  labor  cannot 
be  effected  ?  ' ' 

Mr.  Howard:  "Yes,  That  is  history  up  to 
the  present,  but  the  workingman  is  doing  more 
thinking  to-day  than  ever  before." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "You  regard  such  a 
strike  as  would  be  possible  under  the  conditions 
3^ou  outline  as  a  desirable  thing  for  organized 
labor?" 

Mr.  Howard:  "No,  sir.  If  emploA-ers  would 
be  a  little  more  considerate  of  their  men  there 
would  soon  be  no  labor  organizations  in  ex- 
istence." 


190  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Commissioner  Keman:  "You  do  not  say 
that  all  grievances  are  just,  do  you?  " 

Mr.  Howard:  "No.  Many  of  them  are 
fiivilous." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  " It  is  charged  that 
there  is  a  minority  in  all  labor  organizations  who 
are  practically  enslaved  by  the  will  of  the 
majority  and  that  a  man  for  that  reason  loses 
his  independence  when  he  joins  a  union  ?  " 

Mr.  Howard:  "Well,  I  think  the  reverse  is 
the  rule.  The  hot  heads  and  agitators  in  the 
labor  movement  are  in  the  minority;  the  quiet, 
thinking  men  are  always  in  the  majority.  It 
often  happens  that  the  man  who  is  really  most 
anxious  to  strike  assumes  an  air  of  indifference 
or  positive  objection  to  such  a  move.  He  is 
merely  waiting  for  a  good  excuse  to  stop  and  let 
the  blame  lie  with  some  one  else.  He  wants  some 
one  to  order  him  to  quit  work  so  he  can  say  to 
the  superintendent  that  he  is  afraid  to  remain  at 
work  for  fear  of  personal  violence," 

Commissioner  Keman :  "Was  any  other  mo- 
tive behind  the  strike  other  than  to  force  a  settle- 
ment with  Mr.  Pullman?  " 

Mr.  Howard:     "No." 

Commissioner  Kernan :      "Was  there  any  ob- 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  191 

ject  in  breaking  the  older  unions  so  that  the 
American  Railway  Union  might  profit  thereby?  " 

Mr.  Howard :  "While  the  increase  in  member- 
ship in  the  American  Railway  Union  meant  a  de- 
crease in  the  strength  of  the  older  organizations 
it  was  not  the  object  of  the  strike  to  break  down 
the  older  unions." 

In  answer  to  a  question  by  Commissioner 
Kernan  as  to  what  he  would  suggest  to  prevent 
railroad  strikes  in  the  future,  Mr.  Howard  replied 
that  the  government  ownership  and  control  of 
railroads  was  the  only  practical  solution  of  the 
question.  He  argued  that  about  one  third  of  the 
railroads  of  the  country  are  practically  under  con- 
trol of  the  government,  and  thought  the  balance 
could  easily  be  taken.  He  claimed  the  Santa  Fe 
was  from  two  to  four  months  behind  in  payment 
of  wages;  that  it  would  seem  only  fair  that 
the  government  should  see  that  the  men  were  paid. 
The  government  had  gone  to  the  extent  of  forcing 
the  employes  of  that  and  other  roads  to  work 
whether  they  wished  to  or  not  and  he  thought 
the  other  step  might  as  well  be  taken  at  once. 

Mr.  Sovereign,  grand  master  workman  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  was  the  next  witness.  He  testi- 
fied that  he  was  a  member  of  the  American  Rail- 


192  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

way  Union.  Said  the  only  official  connection  the 
Knights  of  Labor  had  with  the  strike  was  the 
adoption  of  a  resolution  that  they  would  not 
ride  in  Pullman  cars.  He  also  stated  that  a  gen- 
eral tie-up  of  all  the  industries  in  the  country  to 
force  public  sentiment  on  Pullman  and  bring  to 
bear  on  the  Pullman  company.the  greatest  possible 
pressure  was  contemplated,  but  it  was  found  the 
tie-up  could  not  be  made  sufficiently  general  to 
bring  about  the  desired  results,  so  it  was  not  at- 
tempted. 

Commissioner  Keman:  "Then  you  do  not 
consider  the  American  Railway  Union  responsible 
for  the  rioting  that  occurred  ?  " 

Mr.  Sovereign :  "No,  sir.  In  fact  I  do  not 
think  there  -was  any  rioting." 

Commissioner  Keman:  "Do  you  consider 
burning  cars  a  species  of  rioting?" 

Mr.  Sovereign:  "Not  when  it  was  done  byU. 
S.  marshalls. 

Commissioner  Kernan:     "Was  it  so  done?" 

Mr.  Sovereign:  "I  read  reports  in  Mayor 
Hopkins'  office  to-day  to  that  effect— reports  that 
seem  conclusive  on  that  point.  Moreover  I  don't 
think  there  was  as  much  rioting  as  is  generally 
believed.    I  came  from  Des  Moines  on  what  was 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  193 

supposed  to  be  the  last  train  to  Chicago.  We  ar- 
rived without  incident  at  Blue  Island  on  July  6. 
There  the  train  was  side  tracked  and  we  were  told 
by  the  officials  that  it  could  go  no  further  because 
of  the  mobs  between  there  and  the  city.  I  saw  a 
west  bound  mail  train  on  another  track  and  was 
told  it  had  been  there  for  twenty-six  hours  and 
could  not  proceed  on  account  of  the  mob  and  vio- 
lence beyond,  though  it  would  go  on  the  very  same 
track  on  which  we  had  just  arrived.  I  bought  a 
ticket  from  Blue  Island  to  Chicago  on  the  Wis- 
consin Central.  After  coming  a  short  distance  the 
train  stopped  and  the  conductor  told  us  we  could 
go  no  further  on  account  of  mobs  ahead  of  us.  I 
picked  up  my  grip  with  the  intention  of  walking 
to  the  city,  but  the  conductor  cautioned  me  against 
risking  my  life.  However  I  walked  in,  was  not 
molested,  saw  no  disorder  and  did  not  see  more 
then  ten  men  at  any  one  place." 

Mr.  Keman  inquired  what  views  the  Knights 
of  Labor  held  about  letting  non-union  men  take 
the  places  of  strikers. 

Mr.  Sovereign:  "That  depends  on  circum- 
stances. In  the  case  of  mine  owners,  for  instance, 
who  have  sold  houses  to  their  employes  who  have 
partly  paid  for  same,  the  unjust  discharge  of  these 


194  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

men  means  a  forfeiture  to  the  mine  owners  of  all 
money  paid  on  the  property.  We  hold  that  we 
must  by  all  honorable  means  prevent  others  from 
taking  their  places." 

Commissioner  Keman :  "  But  suppose  honor- 
able means  are  not  effective?  " 

Mr.  Sovereign:  "Well,  if  it's  necessary  to 
prevent  them  from  passing  a  given  line  we  clasp 
hands  and  keep  them  out." 

Commissioner  Kernan :  "Yau  do  not  assault 
t.hem.^" 

Mr.  Sovereign :  ' '  No.  If  they  break  through 
they  assault  us." 

Mr.  Sovereign  did  not  think  that  strikes  or 
compulsary  arbitration  was  the  remedy  for  labor 
troubles.  He  believed  that  the  government  own- 
ership of  railroads  would  settle  the  trouble  for  em- 
ployes. He  also  believed  the  employes  of  corpo- 
rotions  had  an  equity  in  their  positions  and  for 
unjust  discharge  should  have  a  remedy  in  a  court 
of  equity. 

Mr.  Keman:  "Why  cannot  the  contract  be- 
tween employer  and  employe  provide  for  all  you 
want  the  law  to  cover?  " 

Mr.  Sovereign :  "  Because  labor  is  always  de- 
pendent, always  has  been  at  least  and  is  forced  by 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT,  195 

the  duress  of  circumstances  to  accept  employment 
without  insisting  on  protecting  conditions." 

George  W.  Lovejoy  was  the  next  witness  to 
take  the  stand.  In  answer  to  a  question  by  Com- 
missioner Wright,  he  said:  "I  am  familiar  with 
the  history  of  the  strike  on  the  Rock  Island  road. 
Beside  the  order  passed  by  the  convention  to  re- 
fuse to  handle  Pullman  cars,  the  men  at  La  Salle 
had  a  special  grievance  that  consisted  of  unjust 
treatment  of  the  members  of  the  American  Rail- 
wa}^  Union  which  had  a  local  lodge  at  that  point. 
I  for  one  was  dismissed  without  any  cause  being 
assigned.  Complaint  was  made  to  Supt.  Dunlap 
and  an  explanation  asked  as  to  why  the  men  were 
discharged.  He  refused  to  consider  the  grievance 
submitted  to  him  so  the  men  concluded  to 
strike." 

Commissioner  Wright :  ' '  Was  the  grievance 
submitted  in  writing?  " 

Mr.  Lovejoy:  "It  was.  I  have  not  a  copy, 
but  think  I  can  get  one  from  the  local  union." 

Commissioner  Wright :  "What  part  did  your 
local  union  take  in  the  Pullman  strike?" 

Mr.  Lovejoy :     "It  decided  to  sustain  it." 

Mr.  Worthington:  "Was  there  any  violence 
at  La  Salle?" 


196  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Mr.  Lovejoy:     "No,  sir.    None  whatever." 

Commissioner  Kernan :  '*  Have  any  of  the  old 
men  been  taken  back  ?  " 

Mr.  Lovejoy:     "No,  sir.    And  never  wilL" 

Mr.  Worthington :  "Is  it  on  account  of  the 
strike  that  they  cannot  get  back  ?  " 

Mr. Lovejoy:     "I  suppose  it  is." 

Commissioner  Kernan :  "How  general  was 
the  strike  at  La  Salle  ?  " 

Mr.  Lovejo}^:  "It  extended  to  every  branch 
of  the  service.  Switchmen,  firemen,  engineers, 
conductors,  brakemen,  telegraph  operators, 
clerks,  round-housemen  and  trackmen." 

Commissioner  Kernan :  "Now  tell  us  about 
the  cause  that  led  to  your  discharge  as  you  under- 
stand it?  " 

Mr.  Lovejoy:  "Six  months  previous  to  the 
convention  of  the  American  Railway  Union 
which  met  in  Chicago,  June  12,  I  had  an  under- 
standing with  the  superintendent  that  I  would 
get  a  leave  of  absence  and  was  to  put  a  man  in 
my  place  while  absent.  When  I  got  ready  to 
come  to  Chicago,  I  sent  a  note  asking  for  such 
leave  of  absence  and  transportation.  The  trans- 
portation was  sent  me,  but  no  answer  to  my  note 
was  given.    When  I  came  to  Chicago  I  called  at 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  l97 

the  office  of  the  superintendent  to  have  an  under- 
standing about  my  leave  and  he  told  me  that  a 
written  notice  was  not  necessary.  Whenever  I 
wanted  to  go  anywhere  all  I  had  to  do  was  to 
put  a  good  man  in  mj  place  and  go.  The  Tues- 
day following  the  opening  of  the  convention  the 
assistant  superintendent  went  to  La  Salle  and 
put  another  man  in  my  place  permanently.  No 
reason  has  ever  been  given  me  why  such  action 
was  taken." 

Commissioner  Wright:  "Mr.  Lovejoy,  I 
suppose  you  have  give  the  subjects  of  labor 
troubles  and  strikes  some  study.  I  wish  to  ask 
if  you  can  suggest  any  solution  of  these  troubles." 

Mr.  Lovejoy:  "Yes,  sir,  I  have  and  I  con- 
sider the  only  way  to  solve  the  question  is  for  the 
government  to  own  the  railroads." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "What  is  your  rea- 
son? " 

Mr.  Lovejoy:  "I  think  the  employes  would 
receive  better  treatment  and  be  better  satisfied. 
I  think  they  would  get  the  same  kind  of  treat- 
ment as  the  postal  emploj-es  and  would  be  no 
strikes  under  these  conditions." 

Commissioner  Kernan :  "W^hat  do  you  think 
of  arbitration  as  a  remedy? " 


198  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Mr.  Lovejoy :  "I  have  never  seen  arbitration 
tried  to  any  great  extent  and  while  I  believe  in 
the  principle  I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  I  am 
in  favor  of  compulsory  arbitration. 

Commissioner  Wright:  "If  the  government 
owned  the  railroads  how  would  you  avoid  the 
changes  incident  to  a  change  in  administration?  " 

Mr.  Lovejoy:  "I  consider  that  railroad  em- 
ployes would  be  in  practically  the  same  position 
as  postal  clerks.  They  would  be  under  civil  ser- 
vice rules  to  the  extent  of  being  pensioned  after  a 
term  of  years  of  faithful  service." 

Commissioner  Kernan :  "Would  it  not  cause 
jealousy  among  other  branches  of  workingmen 
if  such  a  system  should  be  adopted  toward  rail- 
road men?  " 

Mr.  Lovejoy:  "I  do  not  think  so.  I  am  not 
jealous  of  postal  clerks." 

Commissioner  Wright:  "What  would  you 
suggest  as  the  next  best  thing  if  government 
ownership  proved  impracticable?  " 

Mr.  Lovejoy:  "That  the  government  keep 
hands  off  altogether;  let  the  roads  and  their 
men  fight  out  their  troubles  free  from  outside 
interference.  It  is  the  knowledge  that  the  govern- 
ment can  be  called  to  their  aid  that  makes  many 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  199 

of  the  railroad  officials  so  arbitrary  with  their 
men." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "Don't  you  think 
that  disputes  ought  to  be  settled  by  some  other 
method  than  open  warfare?  " 

Mr.  Lovejby:  "There  would  be  none  if  the 
authorities  would  keep  away.  The  employes 
would  settle  their  grievances  by  arbitration." 

Mr.  Worthington :  "What  would  you  think 
of  a  law  providing  that  upon  application  of  a 
certain  number  of  employes  the  railroads  should 
be  compelled  to  come  before  a  board  of  arbitra- 
tion and  make  answer  to  the  grievances  of  the 
men  or  vice  versa  before  a  strike  could  be  declared? 
I  mean  by  that  a  law  which  would  compel  a 
hearing  of  disputes  by  a  constituted  tribunal  even 
though  that  tribunal  had  not  the  power  to  force 
a  decision  in  the  matter?  " 

Mr.  Lovejoy :  "I  would  be  in  favor  of  such  a 
court  and  believe  that  the  railroad  men  would 
abide  by  its  decision  voluntarily  if  they  had  some 
choice  in  the  selection  of  the  arbitrators." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "Is  it  not  one  of  the 
greatest  troubles  the  railroad  men  have  to  con- 
tent with  that  they  cannot  get  a  hearing  of  their 
grievances?" 


200  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Mr.  Lovejoy:  "Yes,  sir.  It  is.  And  if  the 
men  could  always  be  sure  of  getting  a  fair  and  im- 
partial hearing  I  do  not  believe  there  would  be 
any  strikes.  As  a  rule  the  men  are  opposed  to 
strikes  and  resort  to  them  only  when  every  means 
of  settling  grievances  has  failed." 

Commissioner  Kernan :  "Is  it  not  true  that 
strikes  usually  end  disastrously  to  the  men  ?" 

Mr.  Lovejoy:  " Strikes  often  fail  to  accomp- 
lish the  particular  end  in  view,  but  I  believe  on  the 
whole  their  tendency  is  toward  a  betterment  of 
the  conditions  of  the  men.  The  strike  we  have 
just  passed  through  has  demonstrated  to  the 
working  people  of  this  country  that  they  must  get 
together  as  one  solid  body  before  they  can  win. 
They  have  found  out  that  when  they  undertake 
to  assert  their  rights  they  have  no  friends  but 
themselves.  The  press,  the  judiciary,  the  minis- 
ters and  office  holders  are  all  against  them." 

Secretary  Kelliher  of  the  American  Railway 
Union  was  next  to  testify.  He  promised  to 
furnish  the  commissioners  with  certified  copies  of 
any  of  the  proceedings  of  the  convention,  and  the 
correspondence  which  occurred  during  the  strike. 
In  answer  to  questions  by  the  commissioners 
he  considered  government  ownership  of  railways 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  201 

the  only  solution  to  strikes.  While  he  favored 
arbitration,  he  did. not  think  compulsary  arbi- 
tration would  be  satisfactory  to  the  men. 

Thomas  J.  Heathcoat,  a  resident  of  Pullman, 
and  one  of  the  strikers,  was  the  next  witness  ex- 
amined. He  testified  to  the  condition  of  Pullman 
prior  to  and  at  the  time  of  the  strike  and  gave  a 
full  account  of  the  strike  and  the  causes  that 
brought  it  about.  He  gaxe  in  detail  the  scale  of 
wages  paid  prior  to  June,  '93,  and  the  constant 
reductions  since. 

Mr.  Heathcoat,  in  answer  to  Commissioner 
Keman  asking  him  to  explain  the  mode  adopted 
by  the  Pullman  Company  in  cutting  wages  for 
piece  work,  said : 

"Take,  for  instance,  that  desk  behind  which 
you  sit.  Suppose  it  were  given  to  me  to  make.  I 
figured  that  I  could  do  the  work  for  $20.00,  and 
took  it  at  that  price.  As  a  good  mechanic  1  could 
make  $4.00  per  daj'  at  it.  For  the  next  one  the 
foreman  would  allow  me  $18.00.  Being  anxious 
to  make  good  wages,  and  being  a  good  mechanic, 
I  would  use  extra  efiort  and  still  make  $4.00  per 
day.  The  next  one  the  foreman  would  allow  me 
only  $16.00  for.  Yet,  by  extraordinary  effort  I 
could  still  make  $4.00  daily.    The  next  one  the 


202  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

foreman  would  allow  me  $12.00  for,  and  with  my 
utmost  endeavors  I  could  make  only  $3.00  per 
day.  As  a  good  mechanic  I  would  refuse  to  take 
any  more  at  that  price  and  the  work  would  be 
given  to  an  inferior  workman  who  could  make 
only  $1.25  per  day.  This  is  the  way  the  Pull- 
man Company  has  worked  its  piece  work  system." 

Commissioner  Wright :  Did  the  cuts  in  other 
departments  average  as  much  as  in  yours?  " 

Mr.  Heathcoat:  "They  averaged  the  same 
though  they  were  not  alike.  The  new  men  in  the 
freight  car  department  suffered  more  than  we 
did  and  there  were  others  in  some  of  the  depart- 
ments that  were  making  pretty  good  wages  at 
the  time  of  the  strike." 

Commissioner  Wright :  "You  have  spoken  of 
asking  the  company  for  a  reduction  in  rent. 
What  rent  do  you  pay,  and  what  did  you  get 
for  it?" 

Mr.  Heathcoat:  "Up  to  the  beginning  of 
the  strike  I  paid  $17  a  month  rent  and  71  cents 
per  month  for  water.  Gas  I  did  not  use.  Could 
not  afford  it.  The  company  charged  $2.25  per 
1,000  feet.  My  house  had  five  rooms,  cellar  and 
back  yard." 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  203 

Commissioner  Wright:  "What  would  simi- 
lar houses  rent  for  elsewhere  ?  " 

Mr.  Heathcoat:  "I  know  of  eight  and  nine 
room  cottages  with  front  and  back  yards,  in 
every  waj^  more  desirable  than  the  house  I  live  in, 
that  can  be  rented  for  $8.00  and  $9.00  per 
month." 

Commissioner  Worthington:  "What,  in 
your  opinion,  would  it  cost  to  build  houses  such 
as  you  live  in?  " 

Mr.  Heathcoat :  "I  should  like  to  take  the 
contract  for  building  them  at  $600  apiece." 

Commissioner  Keman:  "What  other  ac- 
comodations do  j'-ou  get  for  the  rent  you  pay, 
say  in  the  way  of  paved  streets  ?  " 

Mr.  Heathcoat:  "There  are  cheap  wooden 
sidewalks  in  front  of  the  house  and  the  company 
keeps  a  force  of  men  on  the  street  picking  up 
paper  and  hauling  away  garbage.  That's  all  I 
know." 

Commissioner  Wright:  "Have  you  applied 
to  the  Pullman  company  for  work  since  the 
strike?" 

Mr.  Heathcoat:  "No,  sir.  I  understand 
that  I  am  blacklisted.  They  have  a  blacklist,  you 
know.    I  have  one  in  my  pocket  now." 


201.  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Commissioner  Wright :  "Will  you  let  me  see 
it?" 

Mr.  Heathcoat :     "Yes,  sir.    Here  it  is." 

Commissioner  Wright:  "Have  you  any 
objection  to  telling  us  where  you  got  this  ?  " 

Mr.  Heathcoat:  "Yes,  sir.  I  got  it  from  a 
friend  of  one  of  the  clerks  in  the  Pullman  office 
and  I  would  not  like  to  tell  the  name  of  either,  as 
it  would  cost  the  clerk  his  position." 

Commissioner  Wright:  "Have  you  any 
other  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  blacklist  ?  " 

Mr.  Heathcoat:  "Yes,  sir.  One  of  the  men 
who  applied  to  Mr.  Childs  at  the  Rock  Island 
shops  for  work.  He  was  asked  his  name  and  the 
same  being  found  on  one  of  their  lists  he  was  told 
that  he  was  a  Pullman  striker,  consequently 
could  not  get  work.  I  understand  the  Pullman 
company's  blacklist  was  sent  to  all  the  railroads 
so  that  others  besides  myself  can  never  get  \vork 
in  the  railroad  shop  again." 

Commissioner  Wright:  "Do  labor  unions 
ever  blacklist  non-union  men  ?  " 

Mr.  Heathcoat:  "The  American  Railway 
Union  does  not.  That  is  the  only  labor  union  I 
ever  belonged  to. 

Commissioner  Wright :     "What  was  the  feel- 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  205 

ing  of  the  employes  toward  Mr.  Pullman  previous 
to  the  strike?  " 

Mr.  Heathcoat:  "As  a  rule  I  think  the  em- 
emploj^es  had  a  high  regard  for  Mr.  Pullman  until 
Harry  Middleton  took  charge  two  and  a  half 
years  ago.  He  is  not  a  practical  car  builder.  He 
wastes  material  for  which  we  are  charged .  He 
displaces  men  who  have  earned  their  positions  by 
good  work  and  promotes  his  favorites.  He  makes 
arbitrary  and  tyranical  shop  rules  which  deprive 
us  of  part  of  our  pay.  For  instance,  suppose  a 
car  carpenter  be  given  a  lot  of  cars,  the  work  to 
be  finished  in  a  certain  time.  Within  a  day  of  the 
time  limit  it  is  seen  that  there  is  still  six  days 
work  for  one  man.  He  will  put  on  five  extra  men, 
regardless  whether  that  many  can  work  to  ad- 
vantage, and  pay  them  by  the  hour  charging  the 
same  to  the  man  who  took  the  job  as  piece 
work." 

Commissioner  Kernan :  "  Is  not  time  enough 
allowed  to  finish  the  work  so  that  such  instances 
would  be  due  to  the  neglect  of  the  man  who  took 
the  job?" 

Mr.  Heathcoat :  "No,  sir.  It  is  not,  except 
in  rare  cases.  It  is  misjudgment  on  the  part  of 
the  manager,  Mr.  Middleton,  as  I  said  before,  who 


206  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

is  not  a  practical  car  builder.  As  an  instance  of  a 
waste  of  material — There  was  a  set  of  car  sashes, 
made  of  mahogany.  Care  was  not  taken  to  see 
that  the  mahogany  picked  out  was  all  of  the 
same  color.  Instead  of  picking  out  those  of  the 
set  that  were  alike  in  color  and  completing  the  set 
with  new  ones  and  using  the  off  color  ones  in  an- 
other set  with  wood  picked  out  to  match,  Middle- 
ton  had  the  whole  set  smashed  and  charged  the 
men  with  the  cost  of  the  material  and  refused  to 
pay  them  for  their  time  when  it  was  not  their 
fault  at  all." 

Mr.  Wright :  "  Referring  now  to  the  commit- 
tee appointed  to  wait  on  Mr.  Pullman— tell  us 
what  you  said  and  what  was  said  to  you." 

Mr.  Heathcoat:  "We  asked  Mr.  Wickes  and 
Mr.  Pullman  to  adjust  our  wages  so  that  we 
could  support  our  families.  We  wanted  either  the 
wages  of  June,  1893,  or  a  reduction  in  rent  and 
some  increase  in  wages.  Mr.  Pullman  said  he  could 
not  reduce  rents  as  he  was  making  only  3^  or  2^ 
per  cent.,  I  don't  know  which  now,  on  his  invest- 
ment. He  said  he  could  not  increase  wages  be- 
cause he  was  losing  money  on  his  contract  work. 
But  he  did  not  say  what  was  a  fact  that  nine 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  207 

tenths  of  the  work  that  had  been  done  since  the 
cut  began  was  Pullman  and  not  contract  work." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "What  do  mean  by 
Pullman  work?  " 

Mr.  Heathcoat :  Work  on  cars  owned  and 
operated  by  the  Pullman  Company  and  not  work 
on  cars  sold  to  railroads.  One  result  of  this  was 
that  the  company  was  getting  work  from  us  for 
$1.90  for  which  it  paid  the  railroads  when  they 
did  this  work  $2.50  and  $2.70.  Two  days  after 
he  told  us  the  company  was  losing  money  on  its 
contract  work,  a  quarterly  divident  of  2  per  cent, 
was  declared. 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "That  might  have 
been  paid  from  accumulations  and  not  from  earn- 
ings." 

Mr.  Heathcoat :  "Mr.  Pullman  did  not  make 
any  such  explanation  to  us  when  we  spoke  to  him 
afterward.  If  he  had,  perhaps  we  would  not  have 
felt  so  badly  about  it.  But  it  did  seem  hard  that 
when  men  were  working  and  not  getting  enough 
from  the  company  to  buy  enough  to  eat  that  it 
should  pay  out  $600,000.00  in  dividends." 

Commissioner  Wright:  "Were  there  those 
not  getting  enough  to  eat  ?  " 

Mr.  Heathcoat :     "I  have  seen  men   faint  by 


208  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

the  side  of  cars  on  which  they  were  working 
because  they  had  not  had  enough  to  eat.  After 
the  cuts,  while  working  as  hard  as  I  could  to  earn 
enough  to  support  my  family,  have  been  obliged 
to  sit  down  in  the  middle  of  the  forenoon  to  rest 
because  I  had  not  had  enough  food  to  enable  me 
to  do  such  hard  work  and  there  were  hundreds 
worse  off  than  I.  If  rents  had  been  reduced  I 
believe  there  would  have  been  no  strike.  We 
wanted  to  submit  the  question  of  rent  and  wages 
to  a  board  of  arbitration,  v^e  to  choose  one,  the 
Pullman  company  one,  and  the  two  a  third.  We 
would  have  abided  by  any  decision  the  arbitra- 
tors made." 

Commissioner  Wright:  "Did  not  Mr.  Pull- 
man offer  to  let  you  look  over  the  company's 
books  to  convince  you  that  what  he  said  was 
true?" 

Mr.  Heathcoat:  ''Yes.  But  what  would  we 
know  about  them  ?  Besides,  we  did  not  believe 
that  the  books  would  show  the  real  facts.  I  have 
been  told  that  there  is  only  one  accountant  in  the 
city  who  understands  the  companj^  s  books  and 
we  did  not  have  money  enough  to  buy  bread  let 
alone  to  hire  an  accountant.  I  have  seen  men 
crying  at   the  paymaster's  window   when  their 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  209 

pay  checks  for  two  weeks  would  be  eight  cents 
or  35  cents,  or  one  dollar  or  two  dollars  over 
their  rent  and  the  company  expected  them  to 
support  their  families  on  that  'till  next  pay  day. 
You  see  the  men  got  two  pay  checks,  one  for 
just  the  amount  of  rent  owed  and  the  other  for 
the  balance  of  their  two  weeks  pay.  The  rent 
checks  they  are  expected  to  indorse  and  turn  over 
at  once  to  the  town  agent  in  payment  of  rent. 
The  law  will  not  allow  the  company  to  deduct 
the  rent  from  the  pay  and  retain  it,  but  the  check 
must  be  turned  over  just  the  same  for  you  can- 
not cash  it  unless  you  can  persuade  the  agent  that 
you  cannot  possibly  live  unless  you  are  allowed 
to  retain  it.  Then  perhaps  you  will  be  allowed  to 
retain  a  part  or  all  of  it.  I  have  been  insulted  by 
the  clerks  in  the  agent's  office  because  I  told  them 
I  could  not  get  along  without  the  money  for  my 
rent  check.  Yet  such  was  the  case  for  there  was 
one  time  when  my  pay  after  the  rent  was  de- 
ducted left  only  eight  cents  a  day  for  each  mem- 
ber of  my  family  to  live  on  until  the  next  pay 
day." 

Mr.  Worthington :  "Are  the  Pullman  em- 
ployes required  to  live  in  Pullman?  " 

Mr.  Heathcoat:    "Yes,  sir.     As  long  as  there 


210  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

are  any  houses  in  Pullman  vacant  the  men  must 
live  there;  unless  they  own  houses  somewhere 
else  or  are  favorites  of  the  shop  bosses.  In  fact 
during  last  winter  I  knew  of  people  who  owned 
houses  in  Roseland  leaving  them  unrented  and 
moving  to  Pullman  so  they  could  get  work. 
When  you  apply  for  work  you  are  required  to 
make  application  if  you  are  a  man  of  family." 

Mr,  Worthington:  "Are  their  any  lots  in 
Pullman  bought  and  sold  so  that  you  could  form 
an  idea  of  the  value,  for  instance,  of  the  lot  on 
which  the  house  you  live  in  stands  ?  " 

Mr.  Heathcoat :  "No,  sir.  No  lots  are  sold 
but  I  know  of  a  house  and  lot  over  in  Roseland 
on  the  boulevard  near  One  hundred  and  eleventh 
street  which  were  bought  two  years  ago  for 
$2,500  and  can  be  rented  for  $12  a  month.  The 
house  is  better  than  the  one  I  live  in,  is  bigger  and 
in  a  good  location  while  mine  is  on  a  back  street 
and  I  would  not  pay  more  than  $1,000  for  the 
house  and  lot." 

Mr.  Worthington :  "If  your  house  could  be 
built  for  $600  and  only  yields  3^^  per  cent  the  lot 
must  be  worth  more  than  $5,000.    Is  it  ?  " 

Mr.  Heathcoat:  "No,  sir.  It  is  not,  but 
there  are  some  frame  houses  in  Pullman  which  thq 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  211 

company  charges  eight  dollars  a  month  for  that 
could  be  built  for  $100." 

Mr.  Wright:  "It  was  said  at  the  beginning 
of  this  strike  that  the  Pullman  people  owed 
$70,000  for  rent.  How  far  back  did  that  accu- 
mulation begin  ?  " 

Mr.  Heathcoat:  "I  should  say  about  Nov.  1, 
1893." 

Mr.  Wright :  "Tell  us  if  you  know  what  the 
cuts  in  wages  were  in  departments  other  than 
your  own." 

Mr.  Heathcoat:  "The  freight  car  builders 
suffered  more  than  others,  but  the  commission  can 
find  out  best  by  having  some  one  from  each  de- 
partment come  before  it." 

Commissioner  Keman :  "  Don't  the  people  of 
Pullman  know  that  we  want  to  hear  from  every 
one  that  can  throw  any  light  on  this  subject  ?  " 

Mr.  Heathcoat :  "Yes,  sir.  They  understand 
it  but  there  are  lots  of  them  who  have  not  mone^' 
to  get  down  here." 

Mr.  Wright:  "TeU  us  if  you  can  what  was 
the  average  pay  of  the  employes,  say  in  April 
last?" 

Mr.  Heathcoat:  "On  a  lot  of  elevated  cars 
on  which  I  worked  I  made  16  cents  per  hour,  on 


212  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

one  car  and  15  cents  per  hour  on  another,  but 
there  were  men  working  along  side  of  me  who 
made  only  four  and  five  cents  per  hour.  I 
would  say  that  in  January,  February  and 
March  the  mechanic's  pay  averaged  $1.50 
and  the  laborers  pay  $1.30  per  day.  Some 
times  the  laborers'  checks  were  bigger  than  the 
mechanics." 

Commissioner  Wright:  "Have  you  any  sug- 
gestion of  a  remedy  for  labor  troubles  ?  " 

Mr.  Heathcoat :  "  Yes,  sir.  The  ownership  of 
railroads  and  banks  by  the  government  would  do 
it.  I  never  heard  of  a  strike  in  the  post-ofiice 
department  or  the  navy  yard." 

Miss  Curtis  next  took  the  stand.  She  was  an 
employe  of  Pullman  and  president  of  the  Girls 
Union  of  the  American  Railway  Union  at  Pull- 
man. Beginning  her  testimony  she  said:  "In 
June,  1893,  the  wages  in  my  department  were 
22^2  cents  per  hour,  $2.25  a  day.  In  April,  1894, 
they  were  70  to  80  cents  a  day.  There  were  two 
cuts  in  one  wreck  in  November  and  another  in 
January.  In  April  the  best  wages  any  of  us  could 
make  was  eighty  cents  a  day,  while  some  could 
not  make  more  than  from  40  to  50  cents  a  day. 
Last  June  they  could  make  at  least  $1,50  per  day." 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT*.  213 

Commissioner  Wright :      "Do  you  pay  rent  ? ' ' 

Miss  Curtis:  "Not  now.  My  father  worked 
for  the  Pullman  company  thirteen  j^ears,  during 
which  time  he  paid  rent.  He  died  last  September 
and  as  there  was  some  expense  connected  with 
his  sickness  he  owed  $60  back  rent.  Then  I  went 
to  work  in  the  repair  shop  and  boarded  out.  The 
company  made  me  pay  $3  per  week  on  account 
of  the  back  rent.  I  still  owed  $15  on  the  day  of 
the  strike  and  owe  it  yet.  Some  weeks  I  did  not 
earn  enough  to  pay  my  board  and  rent  too  and 
then  I  paid  only  part  of  the  $3. 

Commissioner  Wright :  "Were  you  on  any  of 
the  committees  that  waited  on  Mr.  Pullman  and 
Mr.  Wickes?" 

Miss  Curtis:  "Yes,  sir.  I  represented  the  girls  on 
that  committee.  We  wanted  our  wages  raised  as  the 
men  did  theirs.  Mr.  Wickes  said  it  was  impos- 
sible to  raise  wages  as  they  were  losing  money  on 
their  contracts  and  it  was  utterly  impossible  to 
reduce  rents.  An  appointment  was  made  to  meet 
Mr.  Pullman  on  another  day.  When  we  saw  him 
he  said  the  same  that  Mr.  Wickes  told  us." 

Commissioner  Keman:  "What  work  was 
done  in  your  department  ?  " 

Miss  Curtis:     "We  made  the  silk,  satin  and 


214  The  pullman  boycott. 

velvet  drapmgs ;  the  carpets,  tapestries  and  mat- 
tresses for  the  sleeping  coaches,  the  linen  for  the 
dining  cars,  sewed  the  fringe  on  cushions  and  all 
that  sort  of  things." 

Theodore  Rhode  was  the  next  to  testify.  He 
said:  "Four  years  ago  I  had  a  good  job.  Then 
they  wanted  me  to  do  a  kind  of  work  that  no  one 
else  could  made  a  living  at.  Four  or  five  of  us 
were  to  work  together.  I  was  to  have  charge  of 
the  work  and  we  were  to  divide  whatever  we 
made.  I  said  I  would  try  it,  but  if  I  didu't  like  it 
wanted  my  old  job  back.  This  was  agreed  to. 
When  I  became  satisfied  that  I  could  make  noth- 
ing at  the  new  work  I  asked  for  my  old  place,  but 
they  would  not  give  it  to  me  and  told  me 
that  if  I  didn't  like  what  I  was  doing  I  could  quit 
working  for  the  company.  After  a  while  we  got 
so  we  could  make  from  $2.60  to  $2.85  for  10% 
hours  work.  Then  the  cuts  came,  and  work  for 
which  we  had  received  $9.00  paid  only  $4.25.  It 
was  impossible  to  make  $1.25  per  day,  and  we 
were  told  by  the  foreman  to  quit  if  not  satisfied. 
I  paid  $15.00  a  month  for  rent  and  71  cents  for 
water.  I  could  rent  as  good  a  house  in  Kensing- 
ton or  Roseland  for  $7.00  a  month.  On  the  day 
of  the  strike  I  owed  $2.50  for  rent.     Have  not 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  215 

paid  it  since,  although  the  collector  has  been 
around  two  or  three  times  lately.  Low  wages 
and  high  rents  are  not  all  the  trouble.  It  is  the 
abuse.  They  talk  to  men  as  they  would  to  dogs. 
They  are  constantly  experimenting  with  new  ma- 
terials. If  it  don't  prove  satisfactory  we  get  no 
pay  for  our  work.  Take  English  varnish,  for 
instance.  The  atmosphere  must  be  just  right  or  it 
won't  work.  Oftentimes,  owing  to  a  dampness 
in  the  air,  we  were  obliged  to  do  our  work  over 
two  or  three  times  for  which  we  get  no  extra  pay. 
In  April  my  wages  every  two  weeks  were  from 
$12.00  to  $15.00.  I  understand  they  pay  the 
men  who  took  ourplaces  from  $2.50  to  $3.00  and 
$3.00  to  $5.00  per  day.  I  have  not  applied  for 
work  again." 

R.  W.  Combes.  For  30  years  a  car  carpenter 
and  for  10  years  employed  at  Pullman,  was  next 
called  before  the  commission. 

"A  year  ago,"  he  said,  "wages  in  his  depart- 
ment was  $2.25  at  piece  work,  and  17^2  cents  per 
hour.  In  March,  piece  work  was  cut  so  that  they 
could  not  make  more  tiian  68  cents  a  day." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "How  much  w^ould 
you  have  gotten  at  the  rate  of  wages  in  force  in 
March  or  April  ?  " 


216  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Mr.  Combes:  "We  did  not  built  the  same 
kind  of  cars  in  1894,  but  had  we,  we  would  not 
have  received  anything  for  them.  In  February  I 
had  $3.50  to  support  my  wife  and  two  children 
after  paying  rent.  Had  the  men  received  fair 
treatment  there  would  have  been  no  strike.  John 
Pearson,  superintendent  of  the  freight  car  depart- 
ment, is  the  whole  cause  of  the  strike.  He  is 
abusive  and  tyrannical.  I  was  inspector  in  April 
and  Pearson  told  me  if  the  men  did  not  do  what 
I  told  them  to  take  a  club  and  knock  their  damned 
heads  off.  That's  the  kind  of  a  man  he  is.  I  have 
not  applied  for  work.  Middleton  told  me  I  never 
could  work  there  again." 

H.  F.  Griswold,  a  switchman,  testified  that 
he  had  last  been  employed  by  the  C.  M.  &  St.  P. 
Ry.— that  he  lost  his  position  through  the  strike 
— had  tried  to  get  work  within  the  last  few 
weeks  on  the  Penn.  R.  R.,  at  Pittsburg,  Altona 
and  Columbus  and  at  each  of  these  places  had 
been  shown  a  blacklist  with  his  name  on  it  as  a 
member  of  the  American  Railway  Union. 

Several  other  witnesses  testified  as  to  being 
blacklisted  on  account  of  being  in  the  strike. 

Charles  Naylor,  a  fireman  on  the  Ft.  Wayne 
road  up  to  the  time  of  the  strike,  was  next  ex- 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTlv  '217 

ammed.  In  answer  to  questions  as  to  what  he 
thought  of  arbitration  he  said:  "From  my 
knowledge  of  railroad  men  I  do  not  believe  they 
would  have  much  confidence  in  arbitrators  elected 
in  the  same  way  public  officials  are.  My  idea  is 
that  they  should  be  appointed  when  their  services 
are  required  and  a  new  set  of  arbitrators  selected 
for  each  case.  The  board  should  be  composed  of 
one  man  selected  by  the  employes  one  by  the 
roads,  and  a  third  by  these  two." 

Commissioner  Wright:  "That  is  the  law 
now." 

Mr.  Naylor:  "  Yes,  but  it  is  not  enforced.  It 
seems  to  me  that  if  Mr.  Cleveland  had  followed 
in  the  line  of  action  pursued  by  Mr.  Gladstone, 
during  the  coal  miners'  strike  in  England,  there 
would  have  been  no  trouble  here.  If  he  had  told 
the  railroads  when  thev  called  on  him  for  troops 
that  they  must  submit  to  arbitration  or  they 
would  get  no  support  from  the  government,  the 
men  w^ould  have  thought  a  good  deal  more  of  his 
honesty  and  fairness,  but  when  they  see  the 
whole  power  of  the  government  thrown  on  the 
side  of  the  railroads  they  lose  confidence  in  the 
iustice  of  the  government." 

Commissioner  Wright:      "  There  was  no  law 


218  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

under  which  the  president  could  have  told  the 
roads  to  arbitrate  the  trouble  with  their  men." 

Mr.  Naylor:  "From  all  that  I  can  learn 
there  was  as  much  law  for  him  to  do  so  as  for 
him  to  send  troops  here  without  the  request  of 
the  governor  of  the  state." 

Mr.  Worthington:  "In  your  suggestion  of  a 
board  of  arbitrators  there  would  be  but  one  of 
them  unprejudiced?" 

Mr.  Naylor:  "I  think  such  a  board  would 
always  be  able  to  effect  a  compromise  between 
the  parties.  I  have  acted  in  the  capacity  of 
arbitrator  between  the  company  and  the  men  in 
adjusting  grievances  and  have  always  found  that 
a  spirit  of  compromise  was  met  in  a  like  spirit 
and  that  is  the  principle,  after  all,  upon  which  such 
questions  must  be  settled. 

Vice  President  Howard  of  the  American 
Railway  Union,  was  recalled  to  make  an  explana- 
tion regarding  some  testimony  which  Mr.  Heath- 
coat  had  given  the  day  before.  He  said:  "Mr. 
Heathcoat  told  you  that  Mr.  Pullman  had  prom- 
ised to  allow  a  committee  to  examine  his  books, 
to  prove  the  correctness  of  his  statements  to  the 
effect  that  his  company  was  losing  money  on  its 
contracts.    The  next  day,  Wallace  Rice,  a  repor- 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  219 

ter  on  the  Herald,  called  on  Air.  Pullman  and 
asked  him  if  he  would  allow  an  expert  to  examine 
his  books  on  behalf  of  the  union:  Mr.  Pullman 
replied  that  what  he  meant  by  allowing  an  ex- 
amination of  his  books  was  that  he  would  have 
his  own  book-keeper  prepare  a  statement  to  be 
submitted  to  the  committee.  He  said  he  never 
had  any  idea  of  allowing  the  committee  to 
actually  examine  his  books.  Mr.  Howard  then 
asked  if  he  might  make  a  statement  of  a  couple 
of  matters  of  importance  to  the  employes.  The 
commissioners  looked  doubtful  about  this,  but 
finally  Mr.  Wright  said  he  might  go  ahead  if  the 
matter  had  anything  to  do  with  the  subject  under 
consideration. 

Mr.  Howard  then  said :  "The  United  States 
government  is  blacklisting  3,000  employes  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  now." 

Mr.  Wright:  "We  have  no  authority  to  go 
into  that  question." 

Mr.  Howard :  "  And  the  other  matter  is  that 
all  the  other  roads  are  making  a  threat  against 
the  M.  K.  &  T.  to  boycott  its  business  if  the  road 
persists  in  making  a  certain  rate  to  Washington.' 

Mr.  Wright :  "  Has  that  anything  to  do  with 
the  American  Railway  Union  ?  " 


220  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Mr.  Howard:  "Yes,  sir.  If  the  government 
allows  the  railroads  to  violate  the  laws  it  ought 
to  keep  hands  off  in  disputes  between  the  roads 
and  the  men." 

Rev.  Mr.  Cawardine  was  called  and  related 
what  he  knew  about  the  matter.  Mr.  Cawardine 
is  pastor  of  the  M.  E.  church  in  Pullman.  His 
testimony  was  directed  chiefly  to  the  exorbitant 
rents.  In  answer  to  Mr.  Wright,  saying  that  he 
had  been  charged  with  being  an  anarchist,  and  a 
socialist,  Mr.  Cawardine  said :  "I  have  considered 
the  charge  so  contemptible  in  the  bitterness  and 
prejudice  of  its  origin  as  to  be  beneath  answer. 
That  I,  an  American  born  citizen  and  the  son  of  a 
soldier  who  died  for  his  country,  should  be  charged 
withbeinganarchist,seems  to  me  incomprehensible. 
It  is  simply  an  evidence  of  what  has  been  made 
very  apparent  that  a  good  many  people  are  vio- 
lently prejudiced  against  working  men  and  will 
not  listen  to  what  may  be  said  on  their  side  or 
read  what  may  be  written.  I  find  this  feeling  even 
among  many  of  my  brethren  in  the  ministry.  I 
regret  it  too,  because  the  labor  problem  can  only 
be  solved  by  a  consideration  of  it  from  all  sides." 

Andrew  W.  Pearson,  a  real  estate  agent  who 
formerly  worked  in  Pullman,  was  called  on  the 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  221 

stand  and  in  answer  to   a  question  put  by  Mr. 
Wright,  said: 

"  Houses  which  rent  for  $17.00  in  Pullman, 
can  be  rented  in  Kensington  and  Roseland  for 
$10.00.  Pullman  houses  which  rent  for  $25.00 
can  be  rented  elsewhere  for  $15.00,  and  $10.00 
Pullman  houses  for  $5.00.  In  Grand  Crossing,  a 
manufacturing  town,  $8.00  a  month  will  rent  a 
five-room  brick  cottage.  The  rents  I  am  giving 
now  are  the  present  rents.  There  has  been  a 
decline  since  two  years  ago  everywhere  but  in 
Pullman." 

Commissioner  Kernan :  "How  much  higher 
are  rents  in  Pullman  than  elsewhere?  " 

Mr.  Pearson:  "I  should  say  fully  one- 
third." 

Frank  P.  McDonald,  a  locomotive  engineer 
and  author  of  the  Great  scab  route  circular, 
testified  that  he  was  a  member  of  the  Amer- 
ican Railway  Union  and  a  delegate  to  their  con- 
vention. He  said  he  was  opposed  to  the  strike, 
but  voted  for  it  as  it  was  the  unanimous  senti- 
ment of  his  local  union.  His  reason  for  opposing 
it  was  because  he  did  not  think  the  union  was 
strong  enough  to  win. 

President    Debs,   of    the    American  Railway 


222  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Union,  was  the  next  important  witness  to  testify. 
Mr.  Debs  outlined  the  trouble  from  its  inception 
down  to  the  special  convention  in  Chicago  on 
Aug.  2.  In  answer  to  questions  by  Commissioner 
Wright,  Mr.  Debs  said  he  was  38  years  old  a  resi- 
dent of  Terry  Haute,  Ind.,  and  had  been  president 
of  the  American  Railway  Union  since  June  20, 
1893.  He  was  a  practical  railroad  man,  had  been 
employed  four  and  a  half  years  in  the  capacity  of 
locomotive  fireman  and  was  at  present  editor  of 
the  Fireman's  Magazine.  Mr.  Wright  told  him 
to  go  ahead  and  give  a  history  of  the  late  strike 
so  far  as  he  knew  from  his  own  experience. 

Mr.  Debs  said:  "In  the  early  part  of  May, 
while  at  home  in  Indiana,  I  received  a  telegram 
from  Mr.  Howard  notifying  me  of  the  probability 
of  a  strike  at  the  Pullman  shops,  the  employes 
of  which  were  members  of  our  union.  I  author- 
ized Mr.  Howard  to  take  full  charge  of  the  mat- 
ter, but  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  prevent  a  strike. 
My  reason  for  this  was  that  the  American  Rail- 
way Union  had  just  been  involved  in  a  strike  on 
the  Great  Northern  railway.  At  a  meeting  of  the 
general  officers  of  the  union  we  had  discussed  the 
possibility  of  other  strikes  arising  on  ac- 
count of    the  victory    the   union  had  won   on 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  223 

the  Great  Northern  railway,  and  we  decided 
that  it  would  be  good  policy  to  be  very  cautious 
in  encouraging  the  men  to  go  into  strikes  when- 
ever there  was  a  possibility  of  avoiding  them 
May  11th,  I  heard  that  the  Pullman  employes 
had  struck.  A  few  days  after,  I  came  here  and 
made  a  personal  investigation  of  the  trouble. 
After  a  trip  to  St.  Paul  I  again  went  down  there 
and  the  result  of  my  investigation  was  that  the 
conditions  at  Pullman  justified  the  men  in  the 
course  they  had  taken.  I  found  that  wages  and 
expenses  were  so  adjusted  that  everj^  dollar  the 
men  made  found  its  way  back  to  Pullman  coffers. 
The  men  were  not  only  not  getting  enough  wages  tp 
live  on  but  were  getting  deeper  and  deeper  in  debt 
every  day.  They  had  not  money  enough  as  a 
rule  to  get  away.  There  seemed  to  be  no  escape 
for  them.  Wages  had  been  reduced,  but  expenses 
remained  the  same.  After  I  had  satisfied  myself 
of  the  truth  of  the  men's  statements  regarding 
their  conditions,  I  made  up  my  mind  to  do  every 
thing  possible  in  law  and  justice  to  right  the 
wrongs  of  our  members  who  had  gone  out  on 
strike.  We  first  tried  to  get  the  company  to 
arbitrate.  We  were  confident  that  any  fair  and 
impartial  board  would   decide  in  favor  of  the 


224  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

employes.  The  company,  however,  refused  every 
proposition  of  that  sort  saying  that  it  had 
nothing  to  arbitrate.  I  then  suggested  that  the 
Pullman  company  select  two  men  to  act  with 
two  judges  of  the  circuit  court  and  a  fifth  person 
whom  they  should  select  to  act  as  a  board  to  in- 
vestigate the  question  whether  there  was  any- 
thing to  arbitrate.  This  proposition  was  re- 
fused. 

"June  12,  delegates  representing  425  local 
unions  of  the  American  Railway  Union  met  here 
in  the  first  quadrennial  convention  of  the  organ- 
ization. The  Pullman  question  came  up  for 
consideration  before  the  convention  sitting  as 
a  committee  of  the  whole  to  hear  reports 
etc.  I  wish  to  say  in  this  connection  that 
all  of  our  deliberations  were  held  with 
open  doors,  except  one  executive  session  at  which 
the  question  of  finances  was  considered,  in  w^hich 
we  felt  the  general  public  had  no  interest,  but  at 
all  the  other  meetings  the  entire  press  of  the  city 
was  represented.  I  mention  this  in  refutation  of 
the  statements  which  have  been  made  as  to  the 
American  Railway  Union  forming  a  conspiracy 
against  the  railroads  and  committing  offenses 
against  the  United  States,    If  a  conspiracy  were 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  225 

intended  it  seems  improbable  that  we  should  have 
sat  with  open  doors.  The  first  steps  taken  to- 
ward securing  a  settlement  of  the  trouble,  was 
the  appointment  of  a  committee  composed  partly 
of  Pullman  employes  and  in  part  of  other  dele- 
gates present,  with  authority  to  call  on  Mr. 
Wickes  to  find  out  if  anything  could  be  done 
toward  effecting  a  settlement  of  the  strike." 

Here  Mr.  Debs  related  how  Mr.  Wickes  refused 
to  confer  with  a  committee  composed  of  an}'  but 
his  former  emplo^^es,  and  finally  refused  to  confer 
with  them,  stating  that  he  had  nothing  to  arbi- 
trate. 

He  then  continued:  "The  matter  was  then 
referred  to  a  special  committee  with  authority  to 
act  in  the  matter.  This  committee  reported 
that  if  the  Pullman  Company  refused  to  concede 
anj'thing  after  five  days  time  to  consider  the  ques- 
tion, it  was  the  sense  of  the  convenion  that  the 
members  of  the  union  would  refuse  to  handle  Pull- 
man cars.  Under  the  constitution  of  the  Amer- 
ican Railway  Union  the  majority  rules  in  all  ques- 
tions under  consideration.  No  strike  can  be  de- 
clared except  by  a  majority  of  the  men  involved. 
In  order  to  conform  to  this  rule,  the  delegates 
were    instructed    to  communicate  by  wire  with 


226  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

their  respective  unions  to  ascertain  the  sentiment 
of  the  members  on  the  question  before  the  conven- 
tion. After  reports  had  been  received  from  all  the 
local  unions,  the  convention  by  a  unanimous  vote 
decided  to  adopt  the  report  of  the  special  com- 
mittee. 

"Since  the  railroad  employes  have  been  criti- 
cised for  engaging  in  a  sympathetic  strike,  I  wish 
to  make  some  statement  regarding  the  general 
situation.  In  many  instances  they  had  local 
grievances  themselves,  and  besides,  there  w^as  this 
general  condition  which  aggravated  the  whole 
situation. 

"  In  the  spring  of  1893,  just  before  the  open- 
ing of  the  World's  Fair,  the  general  managers  of 
the  various  roads  centering  in  Chicago,  were  very 
apprehensive  lest  there  should  be  a  general  strike 
among  all  classes  of  railroad  employes  for  an  in- 
crease of  wages.  The  officers  of  the  organizations 
appealed  to  the  men  not  to  strike,  arguing  that  it 
was  their  patriotic  duty  to  bear  with  patience  their 
grievances  until  the  fair  was  over.  The  result  was> 
there  was  no  strike  anywhere.  The  men  all  worked 
in  harmony  throughout  the  country.  Some  of  the 
managers  promised,  by  implication  at  least,  that 
therewould  be  an  increase  of  wages  to  reward  the 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  227 

patriotic  action  of  their  men.  Instead  of  doing  as 
they  promised,  the  general  managers  during  this 
time  equipped  their  organization  to  protect  their 
mutual  interests." 

Mr.  Debs  then  read  an  article  from  a  Chicago 
paper  which  told  how  the  general  managers  had 
formed  an  air  tight  association  which  would  be 
able  to  deal  wath  any  strikes  that  might  arise  in 
the  future,  and  suggested  that  the  association 
rather  courted  than  feared  trouble  with  employes 
of  the  railroads. 

Continuing,  Mr.  Debs  said:  "Shortly  after 
the  new  association  had  completed  its  organiza- 
tion it  became  apparent  what  course  it  intended 
to  pursue.  About  Sept.  1,  the  Louisville  &  Nash- 
ville road  made  a  sweeping  reduction  of  10  per 
cent  in  the  pay  of  all  its  employes — the  section 
men  getting  67y2  cents  a  day  under  this  reduction. 
Then  in  succession  followed  the  East  Tennessee, 
Virginia  &  Georgia,  the  Richmond  &  Danville,  the 
Mobile  &  Ohio,  Nashville  &  Chatanooga,  Big 
Four,  New  York  &  New  England,  New  York,  New 
Haven  &  Hartford,  Wabash,  Union  Pacific,  North- 
ern Pacific,  Monon,  Great  Northern  and  the  Great 
Western  was  just  on  the  point  of  declaring  a  re- 
duction when  the  strike  was  declared, 


228  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

"It  was  significant  that  no  two  roads  de- 
clared a  reduction  at  the  same  time,  and  in  most 
instances  the  reductions  began  with  the  unorgan- 
ized and  poorest  paid  men  in  the  service.  The 
men  viewed  these  reductions  with  apprehension 
and  unrest.  This  was  particularly  the  case  after 
Judge  Caldwell  had  declared  upon  investigation 
that  the  cut  on  the  Union  Pacific  was  unwarrant- 
able. In  two  cases  the  reductions  annulled  and 
the  original  pay  of  the  men  restored.  On  the 
Union  Pacific — on  the  order  of  Judge  Caldwell 
and  on  the  Great  Northern  through  the  efforts  of 
the  American  Railway  Union.  In  the  later  case 
the  matter  was  decided  by  a  board  of  arbitration, 
composed  of  leading  capitalists  ^nd  business  men 
of  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis. 

"These  conditions  confronted  the  American 
Railway  Union,  when  its  delegates  met  here  in 
convention.  The  employes  felt  that  other  systems 
in  sound  financial  conditions  had  taken  advant- 
age of  the  unfortunate  condition  of  the  country  to 
reduce  wages.  The  men  had  lost  confidence  in 
in  their  old  unions  which  had  failed  utterly  to 
protect  them  against  these  reductions  and  they 
came  in  the  hope  that  the  American  Railway 
Union  would  take  some  steps  to  resist  them  and 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  229 

protect  its  members  against  the  rapacity  of  the 
railroad  companies.  This  was  the  reason  they 
were  ripe  to  take  up  the  cause  of  the  Pullman 
strikers.  They  were  wrought  up  to  a  point 
where  they  were  willing  to  jeopardize  their  posi- 
tions to  protect  both  themselves  and  the  Pullman 
employes.  The  primary  purpose  was  to  cut  off 
Pullman's  revenues  by  cutting  off  his  cars  and 
thereby  force  him  to  a  settlement." 

Mr.  Wright:  "  I  understand  you  to  say  you 
advised  against  the  Pullman  strike.  Why  did  you 
do  so?" 

Mr.  Debs:  "We  had  just  gone  through  a  strike 
on  the  Great  Northern  and  I  did  not  think  it  ad- 
visable to  go  into  another  at  that  time." 

Mr.  Wright:  "What  would  have  been  the 
action  of  the  convention  if  there  had  been  no  strike 
at  Pullman?  Did  not  that  strike  force  the 
issue  ? ' ' 

Mr.  Debs:  "There  would  have  been  no 
trouble  with  the  railroads,  I  think,  but  for  the 
Pullman  strike.  That  and  the  depressed  condition 
of  the  country  aggravated  the  situation  so  as  to 
bring  about  a  general  strike." 

Mr.  Wright:  "Was  the  general  strike  preci- 
pitated by  the  Pullman  troubles?" 


230  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Mr.  Debs :     "  Yes  sir,  it  was." 

Mr.  Wright:  "Was  a  notice  of  the  action  of 
the  convention  served  on  the  dififerent  com- 
panies?" 

Mr.  Debs:  "Not  by  the  convention.  That 
matter  was  left  to  the  men  on  the  various  systems. 
From  the  action  of  the  managers  toward  the  Am- 
erican Railway  Union  generally,  the  matter  of 
serving  a  formal  notice  of  our  action  on  them  was 
not  looked  upon  as  necessary,  as  we  were  very  sure 
it  would  be  ignored." 

Mr.  Wright:  "Was  notice  served  on  the  Illi- 
nois Central  and  Rock  Island  roads?  " 

Mr.  Debs:     "I  think  so,  but  am  not  sure." 

Mr.  Worthington:  "Did  they  have  notice 
through  the  press  ?  " 

Mr.  Debs:     "Yes,  sir." 

Mr.  Wright:  "Do  you  know  the  date  on 
which  the  general  managers  adopted  their  resolu- 
tion to  resist  the  strike  ?  " 

Mr.  Debs :  "I  think  it  was  June  24,  four  days 
after  our  action.  It  was  currently  reported  at 
that  time,  though  I  have  no  written  or  other  evi- 
dence of  the  fact  that  the  general  managers  resolved 
among  themselves  to  exterminate  the  union." 

Mr.   Wright:      "If   the    American    Railway 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  231 

Union  had  had  its  own  way  in  regard  to  its 
policy  would  a  general  strike  have  been  post- 
poned?" 

Mr.  Debs:  **Yes,  sir.  The  conditions  were 
not  altogether  propitious  and  we  were  fully 
aware  of  the  fact." 

Mr.  Wright:  "What  was  the  number  of 
your  membership  at  that  time?  " 

Mr.  Debs:      ''About  150,000." 

Mr.  Wright:  "Did  you  consider  that  strong 
enough  for  a  general  strike?  " 

Mr.  Debs:  "Yes,  sir.  But  it  was  not  a 
question  of  membership  altogether.  There  were 
other  reasons."  Mr,  Debs  said  there  was  one 
other  point  to  which  he  wished  to  call  the  atten- 
tion of  the  commission.  One  great  reason  the 
men  had  in  resisting  a  reduction  of  wages  was 
the  fact  that  the  companies  never  restored  them 
voluntarily.  The  tendency  had  therefore  been 
for  the  employes  to  get  closer  together  to  resist 
the  combined  efforts  of  the  managers.  That  w^as 
the  principle,  he  said,  which  had  inspired  the  idea 
of  the  American  Railway  Union.  Then  resuming 
the  history  of  the  strike  Mr.  Debs  said : 

"Pursuant  to  the  order  of  the  convention, 
which  was  practically  the  order  of  150,000  men 


232  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

composing  the  American  Railway  Union,  the 
members  refused  to  handle  Pullman  cars.  It  has 
been  claimed  that  the  president  of  the  union  was 
a  self  appointed  leader  who  had  ordered  the 
strike,  etc.  In  this  connection  I  wish  to  say  that 
while  such  is  not  the  case,  when  the  report  came 
in  I  gave  it  my  approval  as  president.  I  do  not 
wish  to  avoid  any  of  the  responsibility.  If  I  had 
had  the  authority  I  would  have  ordered  it  under 
the  same  circumstances.  June  26,  the  men  began 
to  refuse  to  haul  Pullman  cars.  They  had  been 
advised  not  to  handle  the  cars  on  any  system 
where  they  could  not  get  the  sanction  of  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  men  to  make  such  a  refusal 
effective.  The  officers  of  the  union  opened  head- 
quarters at  Uhlics  Hall  and  as  committees  came 
in  from  various  roads  and  made  their  reports 
they  were  advised  how  to  act,  and  above  all  else 
to  avoid  trouble  and  violence  and  to  maintain 
order.  We  advised  them  of  their  right  to  quit  in 
a  body  and  told  them  their  rights  ended  there, 
and  that  the  railroad  companies  had  a  right  to 
hire  new  men  and  their  right  began  there." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "What  steps  if  any 
did  you  take  to  prevent  violence  ?  " 

Mr.  Debs:     "When  we  saw  there  was  to  be 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  233 

trouble  we  issued  an  appeal  to  the  men  not  to 
commit  any  acts  of  violence.  Fourteen  years  of 
experience  taught  me  that  violence  was  the  worst 
thing  that  could  happen  for  any  strike." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "How  about  the 
telegrams  sent  by  you?  " 

Mr.  Debs:  "None  of  them  were  inflama- 
tory." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "How  about  that 
'save  your  money  and  buy  a  gun '  telegram ?  " 

Mr.  Debs:  "I  can  explain  that  telegram 
very  easily.  Among  those  who  w^ere  employed  at 
headquarters  to  take  charge  of  our  correspon- 
dence and  telegraphing  was  a  young  man  named 
Benedict.  He  had  authority  to  sig-n  my  name  to 
telegrams  in  answer  to  questions,  etc.  The  tele- 
gram w^as  sent  to  a  man  whom  Mr.  Benedict  had 
worked  under  as  a  telegraph  operator  in  Mon- 
tana. The  allusion  to  the  gun  was  a  playful  ex- 
pression which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  use 
in  joking  each  other,  and  w^as  understood  in  that 
w-ay  by  the  man  who  received  the  telegram .  I 
have  his  letter  in  explanation  of  the  matter  which 
I  will  be  glad  to  turn  over  to  the  commissioners. 
I  never  saw  many  of  the  telegrams  sent  out  and 
did  not  see  the  one  you  refer  to.     The  employes, 


234  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

obedient  to  the  order  of  the  convention,  began 
as  I  have  said,  to  refuse  to  handle  cars.  The 
refusal  usually  came  from  the  switchmen  who 
refused  to  make  up  trains  with  the  Pullman 
equipment.  As  they  refused  they  were  discharged 
— when  the  others  would  quit. 

"July  1st.  After  five  days  of  strike  the  gen- 
eral managers  were  completely  defeated  and  their 
immediate  resources  exhausted.  Up  to  that  time 
there  had  been  no  signs  of  violence  anywhere. 
Our  men  were  intact  and  confident.  Then  the 
intervention  of  the  courts  was  called  into  play. 

"July  2d.  I  was  served  with  a  sweeping  in- 
junction restraining  me  from  sending  out  tele- 
grams or  issuing  .orders  having  the  effect  of  per- 
suading the  men  to  quit  work.  This  injunction 
was  issued  wherever  the  trouble  existed.  The 
result  was  to  reduce  our  influence  to  nothing. 
This  was  the  point  from  which  the  strike  was 
conducted  by  telegrams  and  otherwis.  Then  a 
special  grand  jury  was  called  to  inquire  into  my 
conduct  with  the  result  that  I  was  indicted  with 
other  officials  of  the  union  and  Avarrants  issued 
for  our  arrest.  We  were  held  under  a  joint  bond 
of  $10,000.  Then  followed  an  attachment  is- 
sued for  contempt  of  the  injunction  of  July  2d, 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  235 

and  our  incarceration  in  the  county  jail.  As  soon 
as  our  men  found  we  were  under  arrest  they  quit. 
The  U.  S.  courts  ended  the  strike,  not  the 
soldiers."  Mr.  Debs  told  of  the  seizure  of  his 
mail  and  personal  effects.  He  said  he  merely  cited 
the  fact  to  show  to  what  extent  the  U.  S.  authori- 
ties were  willing  to  go  to  defeat  the  strikers.  He 
also  commented  on  Gen.  Miles  who  was  reported 
to  have  gone  directly  to  the  General  Managers 
head-quarters  on  his  arrival  with  the  U.  S.  troops. 
He  said  Gen.  Miles  was  quoted  next  day  as  hav- 
ing said  he  had  broken  the  back  bone  of  the  strike. 
Mr.  Debs  thought  Gen.  Miles  had  mistaken  his 
mission  which  was  to  preserve  order  and  not  to 
help  the  railroads    run  their  trains.      He  said : 

"I  think  Gen.  Miles  was  vulgarly  out  of  place, 
both  wdien  he  went  to  the  General  Managers  and 
when  he  made  the  remark  credited  to  him."  He 
said  he  thought  if  the  General  Managers  were 
compelled  to  bring  into  court  copies  of  their  tele- 
grams sent  to  the  attorney  general  as  the 
American  Railway  Union  had  done  he  could  sub- 
stantiate the  charge  that  it  was  the  object  to 
annihilate  the  American  Railway  Union. 

Mr.  Worthington:  "Did  I  understand  you 
this  morning    to  charge    the  General  Managers 


236  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Association  with  the  responsibility  of  the 
strike?" 

Mr.  Debs:  "Not  in  that  broad  and  general 
way.  The  American  Railway  Union  ordered  the 
strike  and  is  responsible  for  it,  but  there  were 
aggravating  circumstances  which  ought  to  go  in 
mitigation  under  any  view  of  the  situation.  But 
the  attitude  taken  by  the  General  Managers' 
Association,  their  expressed  determination  to 
crush  the  American  Railway  Union,  in  that  re- 
spect and  in  refusing  to  arbitrate  they  were  re- 
sponsible. We  felt  if  they  could  combine  we  could 
and  each  was  culpable." 

Mr.  Worthington  :  "You  believe  in  enforcing 
the  law,  do  you  not,  and  in  the  proper  authori- 
ties using  sufficient  force  to  do  it,   do  you  not  ?  " 

Mr.  Debs :     "Most  certainly  I  do." 

Mr.  "Worthington:  "You  have  doubtless 
given  considerable  thought  to  the  matter.  How 
do  you  think  strikes  can  be  avoided?  " 

Mr.  Debs:  " There  are  two  ways.  First.  By 
submitting  to  reduction  in  wages  and  other  griev- 
ances as  the  old  organizations  have  done  for 
years.  When  the  general  manager  determines  to 
reduce  wages  he  proposes  a  cut  of  20  per  cent 
when  he  only  intends  to  make  a  10  per  cent  re- 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  237 

'duction.  Then  there  is  a  conference  when  they 
finally  agree  on  10  per  cent.  This  avoides  strikes 
but  it  reduces  wages.  The  second  way  is  a  unifi- 
cation of  all,  or  practically  all  the  railroad  men  of 
the  country  in  a  prudently  managed  organization. 
That  would  prevent  strikes  on  railroads,  for  even 
if  the  railroads  could  unite  to  beat  such  an  organ- 
ization, it  would  be  expensive." 

Mr.  Worthington :  "Do  you  believe  that  such 
an  organization  would  be  so  strong  as  to  com- 
pel   the  adoption  of  all  reasonable  demands?  " 

Mr.  Debs:  "We  did  believe  it,  or  the  American 
Railway  Union  would  never  have  been  organ- 
ized. We  see  now  that  it  cannot  because  all  the 
organized  forces  of  society  and  of  the  government 
are  arrayed  against  it.  When  a  stike  inconven- 
iences no  one,  no  one  is  particularly  interested  in 
it  and  it  gradually  dwindles  down  to  the  little  end 
of  nothing.  But  when  a  strike  does  inconvenience 
the  public,  as  railroad  strikes  must  of  necessity  do, 
the  organized  forces  of  society  and  the  govern- 
ment, a  practically  impregnable  force,  and  prop- 
erly so,  is  arraj^ed  against  it.  Take,  for  instance, 
the  Ann  Arbor  strike.  It  inconvenienced  the  pub- 
lic and  immediately  the  roads  applied  to  the 
courts,    and  Judge   Taft    issued     an    injunction 


238  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

against  the  men.  The  first  of  the  injunctions  that 
have  been  so  much  questioned  both  by  lawyers 
and  laborers." 

Mr.  Worthington :  "Is  it  justifiable  to  incom- 
mode the  public  as  such  strikes  do  ?  " 

Mr.  Debs:  "It  depends  on  circumstances.  I 
believe  v^ith  Admiral  Porter,  that  a  pin  is  worth 
fighting  for  if  a  principle  is  involved.  To  resist 
degredation  is  justifiable  no  matter  what  the  re- 
sult. If  there  were  no  resistance,  things  would  be, 
if  possible,  worse  than  they  are  and  without 
resistance  degredation  is  inevitable.  If  the  rail- 
roads treated  their  men  fairly  there  would  be  no 
labor  organizations.  Every  organization  of  rail- 
road men  is  traceable  to  oppression.  The  Broth- 
erhood of  Locomotive  Engineers  was  born  of 
the  tyranny  of  the  Michigan  Central  road.  I 
have  that  from  the  lips  of  Air.  Robinson,  the 
founder  of  that  organization.  The  first  meetings 
were  held  in  secret  because  the  men  would  have 
been  discharged  if  the  management  knew  they 
were  organizing.  Everywhere  organization  orig- 
inated from  similar  causes.  No  legislation  can  re- 
concile railroad  employers  and  employes  while 
human  nature  is  in  it.  Confidence  has  been  de- 
stroyed.   The  men  have  been  so  treated  that  they 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  239 

have  grown  suspicious,  and  when  general  man- 
agers, who  are  themselves  emploj-es,  order  a  re- 
duction of  wages  on  instructions  from  those 
above  them,  that  it  is  necessary  because  of  hard 
times  or  slack  business,  the  men  are  not  at  all  as- 
sured that  such  are  the  reasons.  Thej  may  ac- 
cept the  reduction,  but  they  are  not  satisfied.  In 
many  instances  the  general  managers  obey  orders 
to  reduce  wages  with  regret  for  they  are  humane 
men,  many  of  them.  Soon  after  the  Great  North- 
ern strike,  the  president  of  a  railroad  told  me  that 
I  now  had  the  opportunity  to  make  myself  a 
most  enviable  reputation,  both  among  railroad 
employers  and  employes  by  advising  the  men 
themselves  to  propose  a  reduction  of  say  10  per 
cent  in  their  wages  during  these  dull  times,  thus 
putting  the  road  under  obligation  to  increase 
wages  when  business  impro  ved.  I  said  to  him,  only 
a  few  months  ago  j-our  road  was  doing  a  phenomi- 
nally  heavy  business.  Did  3^ou  propose  an  increase 
of  even  5  per  cent  in  jour  employes  wages  because 
you  were  making  money?  Everytime  a  decrease 
in  wages  has  been  prevented  or  an  increase  secured, 
it  has  been  the  result  of  weeks  of  labor  and  plead- 
ing and  the  expenditures  of  thousands  of  dollars 
hj  the  men.    Every  schedule  ever  adopted  is  evi- 


240  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

dence  of  that.  Now  that  the  strike  is  practically 
over  the  usual  persecutions  will  be  indulged  in 
against  those  who  took  part  in  it.  Some  people 
are  felicitating  themselves  that  the  strike  has  been 
suppressed,  but  the  safety  valve  has  been  screwed 
down,  that's  all.  The  men  are  no  more  satisfied 
than  they  were.  Some  of  them  will  get  back  their 
old  positions;  others  will  get  work  on  other 
roads ;  still  others  will  find  work  elsewhere,  while 
some  will  be  forced  to  remain  idle  for  a  long 
time.  None  of  them  are  satisfied  with  the  con- 
ditions and  sooner  or  later  strikes  will  break  out 
again,  I  fear.  You  might  as  well  try  to  stop 
Niagara  with  a  feather  as  crush  the  spirit  of  org- 
anization." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "If  it  should  be 
shown  that  government  ownership  of  railroads 
resulted  in  poorer  service  and  more  expensive 
management,  do  you  think  it  would  be  a  good 
thing?" 

Mr.  Debs:  "Government  ownership  of  rail- 
roads is  decidedly  better  than  railroad  ownership 
of  government.  The  time  is  coming  when  there 
must  be  government  ownership  of  railroads. 
Strikes  cannot  be  averted  otherwise." 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  241 

Commissioner  Worthington:  "Will  govern- 
ment supervision  answer  the  purpose?  " 

Mr.  Debs:     "I  don't  think  so." 

Mr.  Worthington:  "Will  arbitration  ans- 
wer?" 

Mr.  Debs:  "I  fear  not.  No  good  can  come 
from  compulsory  arbitration,  that  is  a  contra- 
dicture  of  terms,  even  if  some  means  of  enforcing 
the  decree  could  be  devised.  Those  against  whom 
the  decree  was  rendered  would  not  be  satisfied. 
The  basis  must  be  friendship  and  confidence." 

Commissioner  Worthington:  "Admitting 
that  there  is  some  contradiction  in  the  term  com- 
pulsory arbitration,  it  expresses  what  we  mean 
though  compulsory  attempts  at  concilliation 
would  express  it  better.  Would  it  be  of  no  avail 
in  any  case?  " 

Mr.  Debs:  "It  would  undoubtedly  in  many 
cases  where  trouble  is  local  and  the  conditions 
homogeneous,  so  that  all  of  them  could  be  con- 
sidered as  for  instance  in  the  Pullman  troubles. 
It  could  be  put  in  force  if  there  w^as  a  trial  by 
jury  or  something  of  that  sort,  as  other  courts 
are  constituted,  but  in  interstate  matters  on  rail- 
roads extending  over  thousands  of  miles  where 
conditions  vary,  no  decree  could  be  made  to  fit 

16 


242  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

the  case.  It  is  easy  to  compass  local  matters  but 
not  wide  spread  matters  because  the  conditions 
are  not  homogeneous.  It  would  be  impossible 
to  force  the  decree." 

**MR.    debs'    testimony." 
An  extract  from  the  Chicago  Times. 

People  who  read  an  Editorial  from  the 
Chicago  Times  of  Eugene  Y.  Debs  before  the  strike 
commission,  as  printed  in  the  Times  yesterday, 
cannot,  if  they  be  fairminded,  fail  to  be  convinced 
of  the  justice  of  the  cause  in  which  he  is  working 
and  of  the  sincerity  and  ability  of  the  man  himself. 

"In  a  struggle  for  the  rights  of  humanity  in- 
dividuals are  nothing,  He  will  be  but  a  poor 
champion  of  the  cause  of  the  people  who  will 
pause  to  eulogize  certain  champions  when  he 
should  be  fighting  for  principles.  But  when  a 
leader  like  Debs  is  attacked,  as  he  has  been 
attacked,  and  all  the  agencies  and  all  the  influence 
of  capitalism  are  set  in  motion  to  'make  an  ex- 
ample of  him' — i.  e.,  to  so  persecute  him  that  no 
other  man  will  be  willing  to  encounter  like  danger 
in  the  wageworkers'  cause — then  must  every 
spokesman  of  the  working  classes  speak  out  in 
defense  of  the  leader  so  attacked. 

*'The  slanders  that  have  been  directed  against 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  243 

Debs  during  this  struggle  simply  baffled  recountal 
because  of  their  number.  He  has  been  called 
crazy,  drunken,  revolutionary,  criminal,  incom- 
petent. Newspapers  have  at  once  declared  his 
conduct  of  the  strike  impotent  and  denounced 
him  for  having  made  it  so  effective.  Labor  has 
been  entreated  to  throw  him  over  as  a  puerile 
leader  and  capital  has  been  warned  that  he  is  a 
dangerous  man  because  of  his  surpassing  ability. 
'Anything  to  beat  Debs' has  been  the  one  policy 
which  has  animated  the  organs  of  capital  for  the 
last  four  months. 

"Well,  Debs  is  beaten — in  a  certain  sense.  His 
effort  in  behalf  of  the  Pullman  strikers  has  failed 
and  the  very  journals  which  most  strenuously 
opposed  his  work  are  now  printing  the  story  of 
the  dreadful  destitution  bred  of  the  Pullman 
despotism  which  Debs  did  his  best  to  break  down. 

"It  is  too  late  now  to  fight  over  again  the 
issues  of  the  American  Railway  Union  strike  and 
bo^'cott.  Debs  and  his  associates  now  stand  in 
the  shadow  of  the  penitentiary  for  trying  to 
avert  by  entirely  proper  and  lawful  means  the 
conditions  which  now  engage  the  attention  of  the 
governor  of  the  state,  and  which  must  awaken 
the  sympathy  of  all  humane  people.     The  privi- 


244  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

leged  corporations  flocked  to  the  aid  of  the  Pull- 
man concern — no  on  conversant  with  the  facts  in 
the  case  can  gainsay  that.  The  railroads  stood 
by  Pullman;  every  morning  newspaper  in 
Chicago  except  the  Times  stood  by  the  railroads ; 
the  government  joined  in  with  the  combination. 
Mr.  Debs'  testimony  is  to  the  effect  that  govern- 
tal  action,  by  hastily  issued  injunctions,  killed  the 
strike — a  statement  which  everybody  cognizant 
of  the  course  of  that  movement  will  indorse. 

"There  has  been  much  evidence  adduced  before 
the  investigation  commission,  but  none  so  exact 
or  none  more  clear  than  that  of  Mr.  Debs.  His 
explanation  of  the  causes  of  the  strike  and  boy- 
cott is  perspicuous  and  logical,  his  outline  of  the 
causes  of  its  failure  coherent  and  convincing,  his 
suggestion  of  means  for  avoiding  its  recurrence 
absolutely  right.  He  sees,  as  all  clear-sighted  and 
fair-minded  men  must  see,  that  under  the  private 
ownership  of  railroads  there  is  no  possibility  of 
justice  for  railroad  employes.  The  public  interest 
in  the  smooth  and  uninterrupted  course  of  traffic 
over  the  roads  enables  the  managers  to  call  upon 
public  opinion  and  even  upon  state  forces  to  aid 
them  against  the  employes  in  any  serious  contro- 
versy.   The  government  ownership  of  railroads 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  245 

is  indeed,  as  Mr.  Debs  has  said,  the  one  effective 
remedy  for  strikes  among  railroad  hands.  Asked 
for  a  solution  of  the  general  railroad  problem,  he 
suggested  the  co-operative  commonwealth — a 
solution,  doubtless,  but  one  so  difficult  of  ac- 
complishment as  to  seem  almost,  if  not  quite, 
Utopian,  Mr.  Debs  might  have  proceeded  logi- 
cally from  his  declaration  for  government  owner- 
ship of  railroads  to  government  ownership  and 
management  of  all  other  industries  which  tend 
naturally  and  inevitably  to  become  monopolies. 
This  accomplished,  the  repeal  of  all  laws  giving 
private  persons  the  benefit  of  artificial  law-created 
monopolies  would  follow.  Then  the  abolition  of 
all  taxes  upon  industry.  Finally,  the  throwing 
open  to  all  men  on  equal  conditions  of  all  natural 
opportunities  so  that  every  man  starting  in  life 
should  have,  so  far  as  human  power  could  accom- 
plish it,  an  e-qual  chance  with  every  other  man. 
Under  such  an  organization  and  with  such  laws 
the  co-operative  commonwealth  which  Mr.  Debs 
suggests  would  probably  prove  unnecessary. 
Competition,  which  is  essential  to  the  progress  of 
civilization,  would  still  continue,  but  it  would  be 
free  competition,  not  the  calm  triumph  of  man 
plus  monopoly  over  the  man  without  it." 


246  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Following  President  Debs'  testimony  the  mat- 
ter of  rioting  was  taken  up  by  tbe  commissioners. 
Chief  Duputy  U.  S.  Marshall  John  C.  Donnelly, 
testified  that  there  were  between  1,400  and  1,500 
deputies  sworn  in,  armed  and  paid  by  the  govern- 
ment, concerning  whose  character  and  fitness 
practically  no  inquiries  were  made,  and  that  there 
were  between  3,000  and  4,000  men  sworn  in  as 
deputies  at  the  request  of  the  railroads,  armed 
and  paid  by  them,  and  that  no  inquiries  concern- 
ing their  characters  were  made  at  all.  That  this 
army  of  3,000  or  4,000  armed  men  clothed  with 
the  authority  of  the  United  States  was  not  at 
all  under  the  control  of  the  U.  S.  marshall  and 
was  not  responsible  and  reported  to  no  one  unless 
to  the  chiefs  of  detectives  of  the  several  roads. 
Most  of  the  reports  of  drunkeness  and  violence 
of  deputies  were  from  among  those  hired  by  the 
railroads. 

Malcolm  McDonald,  a  reporter  for  the  Record, 
was  next  to  testify.  In  answer  to  questions  by 
the  commissioners  he  said,  he  thought  as  a  rule 
the  turbulent  element  was  not  composed  of  rail- 
road men.  He  spoke  to  some  of  the  American 
Railway  Union  men  about  upsetting  cars  and 
they  denied  having  had  any  hand  in  it.    He  also 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  247 

said  that  the  conduct  of  the  U.  S.  marshalls  had 
not  been  such  as  to  prevent  trouble  and  they 
seemed  to  be  hunting  opportunities  to  get  into 
conflict  with  the  men. 

M.  L.  Wickman,  pastor  of  the  Swedish  Meth- 
odist Church,  testified  that  many  members  of  his 
church  who  worked  for  the  Pullman  Company, 
had  to  be  taken  care  of  during  the  fall  and  winter 
of  1893  and  1894.  He  told  of  one  man  who  had 
his  hand  injured  by  a  piece  of  flying  steel.  After  a 
great  deal  of  expense  at  the  hospital  he  finally  re- 
covered the  partial  use  of  his  hand  and  was  taken 
back  to  work  at  reduced  pay.  Mr.  Wickman  took  the 
case  before  Manager  Brown,  and  that  officer  con- 
fronted him  with  a  written  statement  by  the  in- 
jured man  to  the  effect  that  the  accident  was  one 
for  which  the  company  was  in  no  way  responsible. 
It  was  subsequently  proved  that  the  man's  signa- 
ture to  the  paper  was  forged. 

Ray  Baker,  a  reporter  for  the  Record,  said 
he  was  at  Hammond  during  the  rioting  there 
and  thought  the  rioters  were  not  railroad  men. 

H.  J.  Cleveland,  a  reporter  for  the  Herald, 
testified  that  he  was  to  work  along  the  Rock 
Island  and  Lake  Shore  tracks  where  considerable 
rioting  occured  between  July  4  and  15.     From  an 


248  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

extensive  acquaintance  among  railroad  men,  lie 
felt  sure  that  there  were  few,  if  any  railroad  men 
among  the  rioters.  Criticising  the  deputy  mar- 
shals, Mr.  Cleveland  said  that  he  saw  many  acts 
on  their  part  which  were  calculated  to  cause 
trouble  unnecessary,  and  thought,  as  a  rule, 
they  were  men  not  fit  to  be  in  authority.  He 
characterized  the  whole  lot  as  a  contemptible  set 
of  men.  The  men  who  were  doing  the  rioting, 
had  the  appearance  of  those  who  had  never  done 
an  honest  day's  work  in  their  lives. 

N.  D.  Hutton,  reporter  for  the  Tribune,  was 
the  next  witness  called.  He  said  that  he  was 
at  Blue  Island  and  about  the  stock  yards  dis- 
trict. Thought  some  of  the  rioting  was  done  by 
railroad  men,  but  could  not  say  so  from  personal 
knowledge  of  the  fact. 

Mr.  Miller,  a  reporter  for  the  Tribune  was 
next  examined.  He  testified  that  he  was  sworn 
in  as  a  deputy  marshall  and  detailed  to  go  to 
Blue  Island.  After  relating  his  experience  as  to 
rioting.  Commissioner  Kernan  asked  him  if  he 
had  an  extensive  acquaintance  among  railroad 
men. 

Mr.  Miller:    "In  the  course   of  my   work   I 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  249 

have  learned  to  know  a  great  many  of  them  by 
sight  at  least," 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "Did  you  see  anyone 
whom  you  know  to  be  a  railroad  man  engaged 
in  violence  or  encouraging  others  who  were  so 
engaged?" 

Mr.  Miller:  " Never,  except  once.  That  was 
when  a  meat  train  had  been  cut  in  two  and 
switches  were  being  turned.  He  was  not  doing 
any  of  it  but  the  general  tenor  of  his  talk  was 
in  the  nature  of  advice  to  what  was  being  done. 
Most  of  the  trouble  was  caused  by  hoodlums 
and  toughs.  In  my  reports  I  characterized  them 
as  hoodlums.    Many  were  boys." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "What  was  your  ob- 
servation as  to  the  sobriety  or  otherwise  of  the 
strikers  at  the  meetings  ?  ' ' 

Mr.  Miller:  "I  scarcely  remember  of  seeing 
one  under  the  influence  of  liquor.  Sobriety  was 
the  rule  and  drunkeness  the  exception." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "Did  the  speakers* 
at  the  meetings  advice  against  violence  or  did 
they  encourage  it  ?  " 

Mr.  Miller:    They  advised  against  it." 

Commissioner  Kernan :  * '  Did  you  think  them 
sincere  in  this  advice  or  was  it  simply  a  cloak." 


250  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Mr.  Miller:  "I  believed  them  sincere  partic- 
ularly the  brainier  men." 

Victor  M.  Harding,  a  reporter  for  the  Times, 
was  the  next  witness,  he  testified  to  being  pres- 
ent during  the  rioting  on  the  Rock  Island  road, 
and  saw  boys  throwing  burning  waste  into  cars 
within  a  hundred  yards  of  a  cavalry  camp." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "Did  you  ever  see 
anyone  you  knew  to  be  a  railroad  man  engaged 
in  any  violence?" 

Mr.  Harding:  "I  never  did.  The  stock  yards 
furnish  the  most  glaring  examples  of  the  false 
and  exaggerated  reports  of  riot  and  disorder  made 
by  the  newspapers.  This  district  has  been  for 
years  made  to  bear  the  burden  of  the  crimes 
committed  in  this  part  of  the  city.  There  was 
comparatively  little  disorder  at  the  stock  yards 
during  the  strike,  but  the  newspaper  reports  con- 
tained accounts  of  fights,  shooting  affrays  and 
riots  almost  every  night.  Capt.  O'Neil,  of  the 
stock  yards  police  told  me  that  the  reporters 
and  the  militia  were  both  responsible  for  this. 
Volleys  of  shot  fired  by  the  soldiers  or  militia  were 
to  be  heard  every  day  and  night,  which  on  invest- 
igation proved  to  have  no  cause  other  than  a 
desire  to  create  excitement.     The  militia  men,  he 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  251 

said,  were  in  the  habit  of  firing  merely  for  the 
sake  of  making  a  sensation.  A  crowd  would 
naturally  gather,  reporters  would  flock  around 
and  then  there  would  be  something  to  tell  and 
brag  about.  I  know  this  is  so  from  talk  with 
the  men  themselves.  They  intimated  that  they 
were  getting  tired  of  doing  nothing  and  were 
desirous  of  creating  some  excitement.  One  night 
Caft.  O'Neil  said  he  heard  a  volley  of  shots, 
went  to  the  spot  and  found  that  the  shooting 
had  been  done  b\'  a  lot  of  sentries.  They  said 
they  had  fired  at  a  Polak  —  the  common 
name  for  a  Pole — who  was  seen  crawling  under 
a  car.  The  soldiers  claimed  it  was  dark,  the  man 
was  at  a  distance  and  was  not  hit.  Yet  they 
knew  he  was  a  Polak.  Equally  absurd  stories 
in  explanation  of  shooting  were  given  the  police 
captain  on  other  occasions." 

Assistant  Fire  Marshall  John  Fitzgerald  tes- 
tified that  he  had  been  on  duty  at  all  fires  of 
any  importance  and  had  witnessed  many  acts 
of  incendiarism.  In  all  instances  he  stated  that 
these  acts  had  been  committed  by  boys  or  youths 
belonging  to  the  hoodlum  element.  He  said  the 
eldest  could  not  have  been  over  nineteen  years 
old.     The   fire   department    had  never  been  ob- 


252  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

structed  in  any  way  in  reaching  fires.  On  one 
occasion  railroad  men,  whom  he  knew  to  be 
strikers,  aided  in  placing  an  engine  in  position, 
though  he  had  never  solicited  aid  of  any  kind 
during  the  period  when  the  fires  were  most  num- 
erous. 

The  Pullman  side  was  now  taken  up  by  the 
commissioners. 

Prank  W.  Glover  was  the  first  witness.  He 
decribed  himself  as  a  real  estate  dealer  who 
owned  a  sub-division  in  Kensington,  besides  acre 
property  there,  owned  and  sold  houses  and  lots, 
and  had  tenants.  In  reply  to  Commissioner 
Worthington  as  to  what  he  knew  of  the  rents 
in  Pullman,  Kensington,  Roseland  and  other  sim- 
ilar suburbs,  how  they  would  compare,  Mr. 
Glover  said:  "I  should  say  a  six-room  house  in 
Pullman  for  $17.00  is  better  than  one  of  my  six- 
room  houses  in  Kensington  which  rents  for  $10.00 
to  $12.00.  The  Pullman  houses  are  connected 
with  sewers.  The  land  on  which  they  stand  is 
better  drained  and  from  what  I  should  judge  from 
outside  appearances  they  have  more  of  what  are 
called  modern  conveniences.  My  houses  have  no 
sewer  connections,  the  land  is  low,  and  in  spring 
and  fall  is  liable  to  have  water  on  it ;   besides  I 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  253 

understand  the  Pullman  Compan}'  keeps  their 
houses  in  repair,  while  I  do  not." 

Paul  E.  Heams,  stationer  and  newsdealer  at 
Pullman,  was  the  next  witness.  In  his  opinion 
there  w^ould  have  been  less  suffering  if  some  of  the 
men  had  let  beer  and  whiskey  alone. 

L.  H.  Johnson,  a  hardware  and  furniture 
dealer,  testified  next.  He  expressed  the  belief  that 
the  Pullman  employes  were  as  thrifty,  economi- 
cal and  temperate  a  class  of  j^eople  as  others  of  a 
similar  class. 

Wm.  R.  McKay,  a  reporter  for  the  Mail,  was 
next  heard.  He  said  that  he  had  been  detailed  to 
look  after  the  American  Railway  Union  head- 
quarters and  the  meetings  at  Uhlic's  Hall.  The 
speeches  at  all  these  meetings  were  against  vio- 
I'^nce  and  in  favor  of  observing  the  law  as  the 
only  means  of  winning  the  strike. 

B.  H.  Atwell,  a  reporter  for  the  Daily  News, 
was  the  next  witness.  He  testified  that  he  was 
at  Blue  Island  during  the  trouble.  He  said  the 
deputy  marshalls  had  drawn  revolvers  without 
any  reason.  Most  of  the  men  who  made  trouble 
there  were  not  railroad  men.  Railroad  officials 
had  said  to  him  that  the  strikers  were  not  mak- 
ing the  trouble.     At  the  stock  yards  also,  such 


254  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

violence  as  was  done  was  not  bj  railroad  strikers 
but  by  toughs. 

The  next  witness  called  was  Alex  Lungren,  a 
wood-carver.  In  answer  to  Commissioner  Ker- 
nan's  question  if  foremen  had  absolute  power 
over  the  men  in  their  departments,  Mr-  Lungren 
replied  that  he  did  not  know. 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "Are  the  working- 
men  compelled  to  obey  the  orders  given  by  the 
foremen?" 

Mr.  Lungren:  "Yes.  They  must  obey 
orders?" 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "Is  there  any  appeal 
from  these  orders  ?  " 

Mr.  Lungren:    "No." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "Then  there  is  no 
way  of  getting  the  matter  to  the  officials  or  sup- 
erintendent ?  " 

Mr.  Lungren:     "No." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "Then  there  is  no 
system  of  obtaining  a  hearing  from  the  officials 
concerning  any  grievence?  " 

Mr.  Lungren:  "No  there  is  no  system  and  it 
is  very  difficult  to  see  any  of  the  officials  to  obtain 
redress." 

Commissioner  Kernan :    "What  were  the  con- 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  255 

ditions  of  your  re-employment  with  the  com- 
pany?" 

Mr.  Lungren:  "I  had  to  leave  the  American 
Railway  Union." 

Commissioner  Keman:  "Were  you  obliged 
to  sign  any  contract  relating  to  your  member- 
ship in  any  labor  organization?  " 

Mr.  Lungren:  "Yes.  There  was  a  written 
contract  which  I  signed.  It  stated  that  I  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  American  Railway 
Union."  Mr.  Lungren  also  testified  that  he  did 
not  vote  to  strike.  He  did  not  attend  the  meet- 
ings; said  he  quit  work  in  accordance  with  the 
notice  posted  by  the  company  that  the  works 
would  be  closed  down. 

Dr.  John  W.  McLean  was  the  next  witness. 
He  said  he  had  been  a  practicing  physician  since 
1863,  and  had  been  in  the  employ  of  the  Pull- 
man company  since  1894.  He  thought  the  strike 
had  been  brought  about  by  the  general  depression 
in  business  throughout  the  country.  Did  not 
think  the  rents  exorbitant  in  Pullman.  Said  he 
attended  the  Pullman  employes  who  were  in- 
jured, free  of  charge.  When  asked  by  Commis- 
sioner Kernan  if  he  thought  intemperance  one 
cause  of  the  Pullman  strike,  he  said : 


256  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

"Yes,  I  think  all  labor  troubles  are  directly 
due  to  this  cause." 

General  Manager  E.  St.  Jolin  of  the  Rock 
Island  road  was  the  next  witness  examined.  His 
testimony,  which  would  fill  several  pages,  was  in 
brief  a  general  contradiction  of  all  evidence  offered 
by  the  reporters,  and  American  Railway  Union 
witnesses.  He  charged  the  rioting  to  the  strikers. 
He  was  opposed  to  the  government  ownership  of 
railroads  and  also  thought  arbitration  impractic- 
able. He  admitted  that  a  greater  reduction  of 
wages  was  liable  to  follow  unless  the  present  de- 
pressed condition  of  business  was  soon  remedied. 
Regarding  the  losses  incurred  by  his  road  on  ac- 
count of  the  strike  he  said  it  was  his  impression 
that  they  would  be  somewhere  between  $800,- 
000  and  $1,000,000.  When  the  question  of  com- 
munications from  the  officers  of  the  American 
Railway  Union  came  up  Commissioner  Keman 
asked  why  the  General  Managers  Association  de- 
clined to  receive  it. 

Mr.  St.  John:  "Because  we  considered  such 
an  organization  unworthy  of  consideration." 

Commissioner  Kernan:  "Were  you  determ- 
ined not  to  recognize  any  union?  " 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  257 

Mr.  St.  John :  "Not  exactly,  but  the  American 
Railway  Union  least  of  all." 

Commissioner  Keman :  "Were  not  the  roads 
united  sympathetically?  Now  what  had  the 
Lake  Shore  road  to  do  with  the  Rock  Island 
road?" 

Mr.  St.  John :  "  What  had  the  Rock  Island  to 
do  with  the  Lake  Shore?  " 

Commissioner  Kernan :  "Is  it  not  true  that 
the  roads  were  united  sympathetically  ?  ' ' 

Mr.  St.  John:      "Let  me  ask  you  a  question." 

Commissioner  Keman:  "No,  I  am  not  on  the 
stand.  I  may  be  some  day  and  then  you  can  ques- 
tion me." 

Mr.  St.  John:  "When  a  neighbor's  house 
bums  we  all  unite  to  fight  the  blaze.  When  an  as- 
sault is  made  on  all  the  roads,  they  unite  to  resist 
it." 

When  General  Manager  St.  John  resumed  the 
witness  stand,  he  had  with  him  one  of  the  twenty- 
six  sets  of  books  mentioned  by  Mr.  Howard,  con- 
taining the  scale  of  wages  and  rules  of  employ- 
ment of  all  classes  of  railw^ay  employes  on  the 
roads  represented  in  the  General  Managers' Associ- 
ation. When  questioned  by  Commissioner  Keman 
he  admitted  that  a  committee  had  been  appointed 


258  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

to  formulate  from  these  a  schedule  of  what  was  a 
fair  rate  of  wages  for  all  classes  of  employes  and 
uniform  rules  of  employment.  That  committee 
reported,  but  the  report  was  never  acted  on.  This 
committee  was  appointed  under  a  resolution 
passed  February  15,  1894.  Its  report  was  made 
in  March,  and  if  adopted  would  have  affected 
125,000  men  at  least.  One  or  two  roads,  he  ad- 
mitted, might  have  reduced  wages  about  this  time, 
but  there  was  no  agreement  with  the  other  roads 
concerning  it.  It  became  known  that  Mr.  Wright, 
chairman  of  the  commission,  had  an  annual  Pull- 
man pass.  He  said  concerning  It  that  he  and 
Mr.  Pullman  had  been  personal  friends  for  several 
years,  and  it  was  to  him  as  a  personal  friend  that 
the  pass  was  given  several  years  ago  and  had  been 
renewed  annually  since.  He  deemed  that  it  was 
for  the  glowing  reports  of  Pullman,  made  by  Mr. 
Wright  and  others  in  1884,  for  he  did  not  know 
Mr.  Pullman  then.  He  said  that  he  had  not  used 
it  since  the  appointment  of  the  commission. 

Following  Mr.  St.  John,  John  M.  Eagan  took 
the  stand. 

Mr.  Eagan  admitted  that  as  the  manager  of 
the  General  Managers'  Association  he  was  author-^ 
ized  to  Incur  any  expense  to  secure  force  to  crush 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  259 

the  strike,  but  was  not  authorized  to  do  anything 
to  settle  it  peaceably.  Of  his  connection  with  the 
General  Managers' Association  he  said  thathewas 
requested  to  take  charge  of  the  association  during 
the  strike. 

Commissioner  Worthington :  "Did  you  have 
anything  done  in  relation  to  the  appointment  of 
deputy  marshals  ?  " 

Mr.  Eagan:  "Each  road  appointed  an  offi- 
cial to  select  the  men  they  wanted  to  act  as  dep- 
uty marsh  alls  and  turned  'em  over  to  me.  I  sent 
them  to  Arnold  to  be  sworn," 

Commissioner  Worthington :  "Did  those  men 
serve  as  employes  of  the  road  while  acting  as 
marshals?  " 

Mr.  Eagan :  '  *  My  judgment  is  that  they  were 
to  take  care  of  the  interests  of  the  roads." 

Commissioner  Worthington:  "Did  they  act 
in  the  double  capacity  as  marshals  and  as  rail- 
road employes  ?  That  is,  would  an  engineer,  for 
instance,  while  wearing  a  star  showing  his  author- 
ity, run  an  engine  for  the  road  ?  " 

Mr.  Eagan:  "I  believe  they  did  that.  They 
were  sworn  in  as  deputy  marshals  to  give  them  a 
chance  to  protect  themselves." 

Commissioner    Worthington:       "By     whom 


260  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

were  the  deputy  marshals  to  be  paid  or  by  whom 
will  they  be  paid?" 

Mr.  Eagan:  "Each  road  is  supposed  to  pay 
its  own  men." 

Commissioner  Worthington :  *  What  do  you 
know  of  any  efforts  made  by  the  officers  of  the 
American  Railway  Union  or  the  city  officials  to 
settle  the  strike  amicably?  " 

Mr.  Egan:  "A  party  named  McGillen,  Alder- 
man McGillen,  I  think,  told  me  that  Howard 
and  Debs  wanted  a  conference  with  me  about 
settling  the  strike.  I  told  him  I  had  no  authority 
to  confer  with  them." 

Commissioner  Worthington:  "Did  you  not 
have  authority  to  talk  with  them  and  find  out 
what  they  wanted  or  could  do,  without  making 
any  agreement  with  them?  " 

Mr.  Eagan:  "Not  with  those  parties — I  did 
not  think  I  had.  A  few  days  later  I  found  the  mayor 
and  Mr.  McGillen  in  the  office  of  the  General  Man- 
agers'Association.  They  said  they  had  come  with  a 
letter  from  Debs, Howard  and  Kelliher.  I  told  the 
mayor  he  ought  not  to  make  a  messenger  boy  of 
himself  for  these  parties  of  the  American  Railway 
Union.  Later  I  was  given  the  document  to  give 
to  the  mayor.    He  was  at  Kensington,  so  I  left  it 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  261 

with  the  chief  of  police,  and  wrote  a  letter  telling 
him  I  could  not  receive  the  letter  he  had 
brought." 

Commissioner  Worthington :  "Were  any 
other  overtures  of  settlement  made  to  you?" 

Mr.  Eagan :  "  That's  all  I  know  of  any  over- 
tures." 

Commissioner  Worthington:  "Was  there 
anything  insulting  or  offensive  in  the  language  of 
the  letter  the  mayor  brought  you  that  made  you 
refuse  to  receive  it  ?  " 

Mr.  Eagan:  "The  letter  was  published  that 
evening  and  next  morning  and  speaks  for  itself." 

Commissioner  Worthington :  "I  am  asking 
you  how  you  regarded  it.  Did  you  consider  that 
there  was  anything  insulting  or  offensive  in  the 
letter?" 

Mr.  Eagan:  '^. considered  that  any  parties 
that  had  fought  railroads  as  they  had  and  been 
beaten  as  I  believe  they  have  been  had  lots  of 
cheek  to  dictate  the  terms  of  their  surrender." 

Commissioner  Worthington:  "You  do  not 
answer  my  question.  Were  there  not  soldiers,  U. 
S.  marshals,  deputy  sheriffs  and  policemen  engaged 
in  guarding  the  railroads,  and  were  you  not  hind- 
ered in  the  operation  of  the  roads  ?  " 


262  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Mr.  Egan:    "Yes." 

Commissioner  Worthington :  "Now  was  not 
the  letter  courteously  composed  and  looking  to  a 
settlement  of  the  difficulty?  " 

Mr.  Eagan :  We  didn't  need  a  settlement — we 
had  'em  already." 

Commissioner  Worthington:  "The  soldiers, 
marshals,  sheriffs  and  police  remained  on  duty 
sometime  after  that — didn't  they?" 

Mr.  Eagan:  "Yes,  we  needed  the  soldiers  to 
protect  our  property." 

Commissioner  Worthington :  "  If  a  settlement 
could  have  been  reached  at  that  time  between  the 
railroads  and  the  strikers,  couldn't  the  soldiers 
and  marshals  have  been  dismissed.  They  wouldn't 
have  been  needed  after  an  amicable  settlement 
had  been  reached,  would  they  ?  " 

Mr.  Eagan:  "It  was  their  intention  not  to 
recognize  the  American  Railway  Union." 

Commissioner  Worthington :  "Then  it  is  true 
is  it  that  the  reason  this  communication  was  not 
received  was  not  because  it  was  not  courteously 
worded  or  because  it  was  discourteous  or  insult- 
ing but  because  the  General  Managers  would  not 
recognize  the  American  Railway  Union?  " 

Mr.  Eagan :    "Well,  that's  as  I  understood  it." 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  263 

Commissioner  Worthington:  ''What  would 
have  been  out  of  the  way  in  your  talking  with 
Debs  and  Howard  when  they  asked  a  conference 
with  you?" 

Mr.  Eagan :  "I  didn't  have  any  authority  to 
talk  to  them." 

Commissioner  Worthington:  "Then  your 
authority  extended  to  this.  You  had  authority 
to  contract  at  the  expense  of  the  railroad  for  all 
the  force  necessary  to  crush  the  strike  but  had  no 
authority  to  settle  it  by  peaceful  means?  " 

Mr.  Eagan,     "Well,  yes.    I  suppose  so." 

Commissioner  Worthington:  "When  you 
rebuked  the  mayor  did  jou  think  it  derogatory 
to  bear  a  respectful  message  looking  to  a  peace- 
ful settlement  of  the  difficulty?" 

Mr.  Eagan:  "I  believed  the  American  Rail- 
way Union  was  whipped  at  that  time." 

Commissioner  Worthington:  "It  was  then 
the  condition  and  not  the  character  of  the  men 
that  signed  the  document  that  made  you  refuse 
to  receive  it?" 

Mr.  Eagan :  "We  believed  we  had  the  strike 
won." 

Commissioner  Worthington :      "Did  you  ever 


264  THE   PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

try  to  use  anything  but  force  to  settle  the  diffi- 
culty?" 

Mr.  Eagan:  "None,  except  to  the  different 
parties  that  came  to  see  me,  men  that  I  knew 
personally  had  quit  work.  I  told  them  to  go 
back  to  work."  In  regard  to  violence  Mr. 
Eagan  knew  nothing  about  it  personally,  but 
assumed  that  the  strikers  did  it. 

Superintendent  Dunlap,  of  the  Rock  Island, 
was  asked  if  he  recognized  any  of  the  ex- 
employes  among  the  rioters,  and  said  that  he 
did  not  know  many  of  the  men  but  was  sure 
that  they  were  present.  He  was  also  asked  by 
Mr.  Wright  if  he  knew  one  John  T.  Norton  to 
which  he  answered  no. 

Superintendent  of  Police,  Michael  Brennan, 
was  next  examined.  He  testified  that  but  a 
small  per  cent  of  the  rioting  was  done  by  strikers. 

John  T.  Norton,  a  locomotive  engineer,  was 
next  called  to  the  stand  and  testified  that  he  was 
employed  on  the  Illinois  Central  road  prior  to 
the  strike,  and  had  since  obtained  a  position  on 
the  Calumet  &  Blue  Island. 

This  line  uses  the  Rock  Island  track  to  Joliet. 
He  said  that  he  passed  an  examination  on 
the  C.  &  B.  I.  and  also  on  the  Rock  Island.    He 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT,  265 

had  made  one  trip  when  informed  that  the  Rock 
Island  road  had  barred  him  and  would  not 
allow  him  to  run  over  any  part  of  their  line.  He 
consulted  a  lawyer  and  was  told  to  see  Superin- 
tendent Dunlap.  He  called  on  him  in  company 
with  a  friend  named  Fraser.  He  asked  Mr.  Dun- 
lap  if  he  was  barred  off  the  Rock  Island,  who 
said  yes,  and  he  then  saw  that  he  was  black- 
listed. 

Mr.  Kernan :  "Do  you  call  that  evidence  of  a 
blacklist?" 

Mr.  Norton:  "I  do.  After  getting  a  letter 
from  Superintendent  Conlin  I  was  ban-ed  out  by 
Superintendent  Dunlap  who  has  just  sworn  he 
did  not  know  me." 

Mr.  Kernan :  "  Can  you  produce  Mr.  Fraser. 
We  w^ould  like  to  hear  his  testimony?  " 

Mr.  Norton:    "I  will." 

Mr.  Kernan:  "Were  you  concerned  in  any 
violence  during  the  strike?  " 

Mr.  Norton:     "No," 

Mr.  Kernan:  "Are  you  an  officer  of  the 
American  Railway  Union  ?  " 

Mr,  Norton:  "Yes.  I  am  president  of  local 
union  No.  193." 

Mr.  Gompers  of  the  American   Federation  of 


266  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Labor  was  next  examined  but  refused  to  be 
sworn.  Mr.  Gompers  went  into  the  labor  ques- 
tion in  a  general  way.  In  reference  to  strikes,  he 
said  that  so  long  as  the  present  industrial  and 
commercial  systems  last,  so  long  will  strikes 
continue. 

George  M.  Pullman,  president  of  the  Pullman 
company,  was  now  before  the  commissioners.  He 
submitted  a  lenghty  statement  in  relation  to  the 
town  of  Pullman,  and  under  examination  he 
told  of  the  increase  of  the  Palace  Car  company 
from  $1,000,000  to  $36,000,000  and  the  accumu- 
lation of  a  cash  surplus  of  $25,000,000.  When 
questioned  concerning  the  grievance  of  the  em- 
ployes, he  was  not  so  well  posted.  When  asked 
by  Mr.  wright  if  it  was  the  practice  of  the  com- 
pany to  reduce  wages  from  time  to  time,  he 
said: 

"lam  not  familiar  with  the  details  of  the 
manufacturing  department  and  must  refer  you  to 
the  second  vice-president." 

Mr.  Worthington:  "Did  you  ever  express 
any  unwillingness  to  arbitrate?  " 

Mr.  Pullman:  "I  did  express  unwillingness 
and  refer  you  to  my  published  statements.  I  was 
aware  of  the  losses  of  the  company  in  paying  the 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  267 

wages  it  did  when  contract  prices  were  so  low, 
and  I  knew  it  was  impossible  for  the  company  to 
pay  a  higher  scale.  It  was  a  question  whether 
the  shops  should  be  closed,  or  secure  work  at  a 
low  figure.  It  was  the  principle  involved  in 
letting  a  third  party  determine  how  the  company 
should  transact  its  business." 

Mr.  Worthington :  "But  you  paid  the  usual 
dividend  of  eight  per  cent  last  year?  " 

Mr.  Pullman:  "Yes.  But  the  profit  during 
the  World's  Fair  helped  out  the  amount." 

Mr,  Worthington:  "Now  don't  j'ou  think 
that  the  Pullman  corporation  which  paid  a 
dividend  of  $2,800,000  for  the  year  just  ended 
should  have  borne  with  the  employes  and  shared 
its  profits  to  some  extent  ?  " 

Mr.  Pullman:  "I  don't  see  why  we  should 
take  the  money  from  the  stockholders  to  pay  a 
set  of  men  higher  wages  because  the  manufac- 
turing business  paid  well,  to  pay  this  money  to 
men  working  at  Pullman  when  the  employes  at 
Ludlow,  Wilmington  and  St.  Louis  had  no  com- 
plaint to  make.  The  efforts  of  the  American 
Railway  Union  to  call  a  strike  there  was  a 
failure." 


268  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Mr.  Wortliington :  "Has  the  Pullman  Com- 
pany ever  voluntarily  raised  wages  ?  " 

Mr.  Pullman:  "No;  but  it  always  has  paid 
fair  wages." 

Mr.  Worthington:  "Now,  Mr.  Pullman, 
when  you  see  the  present  unrest  of  labor,  and  the 
possible  consequences,  what  objection  had  you  to 
distributing  a  portion  of  the  profits  or  increasing 
wages  a  little?" 

Mr.  Pullman:  "The  reason  is  embodied  in  my 
statement,  it  is  a  matter  of  opinion,  and  then 
there  is  the  principle  involved.  It  is  impossible 
under  the  circumstances." 

Mr.  Worthington:  "Impossible,  what  is  im- 
possible? Could  not  arbitration  determine  the 
principle  involved?" 

Mr.  Pullman:  "As  president  of  the  company 
I  do  not  care  to  give  any  other." 

Mr.  Worthington  then  introduced  a  lease  used 
between  the  company  and  its  tenants.  This  pro- 
vided that  the  tenants  should  make  all  repairs  to 
plumbing,  water  pipes,  gas,  etc.,  and  to  surrender 
premises  in  good  repair.  When  such  repairs  were 
made  by  the  company,  the  amount  was  deducted 
from  their  salaries, 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  269 

Mr.  Worthington :  "  Now,  the  company  does 
not  make  anj^  repairs,  does  it  ?  " 

Mr.  Pullman:  "The  company  repairs  the 
roofs  or  outside  of  the  houses,  I  am  not  familiar 
with  the  details." 

Mr.  Worthington :  "  But  by  the  lease  the  ten- 
ants are  bound  to  make  all  the  repairs,  it  is  stip- 
ulated that  the  tenant  shall  repay  the  company 
for  all  repairs  made." 

Air.  Pullman:  "I  will  have  to  refer  you  to 
some  official  of  the  company."     (Laughter.) 

Mr.  Worthington:  "The  rent  is  deducted 
monthly,  is  it  not  ?  " 

Mr.  Pullman:  ' '  I  am  unable  myself  to  identify- 
that  lease  you  handed  me." 

Mr.  Pullman  concluded  with  the  statement 
that  the  company  declined  to  employ  any  member 
of  the  American  Railway  Union. 

Mr.  Worthington  again  asked  if  the  company 
could  not  afford  to  pay  an  increased  scale  of  wages 
and  this  Mr.  Pullman  refused. 

Mr.  Kernan:  "  When  the  general  cut  in  sal- 
aries was  made,  was  your  salary  reduced  ?  " 

Mr.  Pullman:    "No."     (Laughter.) 

Mr.  Kernan :  "  That  of  officials,  superintend- 
ents or  foremen?" 


270  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Mr.  Pullman:    "No." 

Mr.  Wickes  then  took  the  stand.  His  evi- 
dence—which in  main  was  documentary — em- 
braced every  detail  of  the  strike.  He  admitted 
having  promised  members  of  the  grievance  com- 
mittee that  they  would  not  be  discharged,  and 
said  the  agreement  had  not  been  broken  by  him. 
From  statistics  presented  by  Mr.  Wickes,  he 
claimed  that  the  average  rate  of  wages  paid  for 
the  year  ending  in  April,  1893,  was  $2.63  per  day 
and  for  the  same  succeeding  period  $2.03,  which 
fact,  he  said,  disproved  of  statements  made  by 
strikers. 

In  the  case  of  Miss  Jennie  Curtis  the  books 
showed  that  her  father  had  owed  but  $17.00 
at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  sum  had  never 
been  repaid  the  company. 

Blacklisting,  he  said,  had  never  been  practiced 
by  the  Pullman  Company,  although  the  foreman 
kept  a  list  of  discharged  men.  He  also  said  that 
the  company  had  been  losing  $500  per  month 
by  furnishing  water.  He  said  that  the  men 
were  advised  by  Mr.  Howard  not  to  strike. 

Referring  to  rent  and  wages,  he  did  not  con- 
sider that  there  was  any  connection  between 
them.    He  said:    "We paid  the  market  price  for 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  271 

labor  and  we  asked  the  market  price  for  houses." 
He  contended  that  wages  were  regulated  by  the 
law  of  supply  and  demand.  We  go  into  the 
market  to  buy  labor,  as  we  go  into  the  market 
to  buy  other  things.  If  a  manufacturer  by 
reason  of  improved  machinery,  of  special  facil- 
ities, or  greater  ability  in  securing  supplies  or 
disposing  of  products,  or  by  more  effective  hand- 
hng  of  men,  should  be  making  larger  profits  than 
his  competitors  and  should  increase  wages,  he 
would  deprive  himself  of  all  the  benefits  of  these 
advantages  which  are  his  and  to  which  his  em- 
ployes do  not  contribute,  and  would  make  no 
more  than  the  manufacturer  who  conducted  his 
business  in  a  shiftless  manner  or  without  ability, 
energy  or  enterprise. 

Mr.  Wickes  concluded  his  testimony,  and  In- 
spector Nicholas  Hunt  was  called. 

He  testified  that  from  June  27th,  or  the  time 
his  force  was  first  called  to  protect  railroad 
property  at  various  points,  up  to  July  3d,  there 
had  been  no  serious  difficulty.  When  asked  by 
Mr.  Worthington  if  he  had  seen  raiload  men 
take  part  in  the  destruction  of  property.  He 
replied ; 


272  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

"I  have  not  seen  one  railroad  man  inter- 
fere in  any  "\;vaj." 

A.  J.  Sullivan,  general  manager  of  tlie  Illinois 
Central,  was  next  to  testify. 

He  went  into  details  concerning  the  trouble 
on  his  road.  He  was  certain  that  the  acts  of 
violence  were  committed  by  the  strikers  although 
he  did  not  witness  it  personally. 

H.  R.  Saunders,  general  yard-master  for  the 
Rock  Island,  testified  for  the  company  in  relation 
to  the  way  the  strike  was  ordered  on  the  Rock 
Island.  He  charged  that  Mr.  Howard,  vic-presi- 
dent  of  the  American  Railway  Union,  with  using 
abusive  and  violent  language.  Epethets  applied 
to  Pullman  and  the  expression,  "if  scabs  take 
your  places  kill  them  with  a  coupling  pin,"  was 
declared  to  have  been  used. 

W.  D.  Fuller,  agent  for  the  Rock  Island 
road  at  Blue  Island,  testified  that  he  was  pres- 
ent, and  thought  Mr.  Howard's  speech  was 
very  violent,  he  applied  epethets  to  Pullman, 
thought  he  ought  to  be  hanged,  and  that  he 
( Howard )  would  like  to  head  a  crowd  to 
do  it. 

L.  A.   Camp,    a   yardmaster   for     the    Rock 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  273 

Island,  was  also  at  the  meeting  and  heard  no 
violent  language  used. 

G.  D.  Cruelly  also  a  yardmaster  for  the  same 
road,  thought  the  strike  at  Blue  Island  was  due 
to  Air.  Howard  and  Mr.  Debs.  Mr.  Howard  in 
particular  and  Mr.  Debs  incidentally.  Mr.  How 
ard  was  violent  and  abusive  in  his  language- 
The  witness  is  a  member  of  the  Order  of  Rail- 
way conductors  but  not  of  the  American  Rail- 
way Union. 

Fred  Baumbach  testified  to  hearing  both 
Debs  and  Howard  speak,  but  did  not  remember 
of  hearing  either  one  of  them  using  violent 
language. 

Otto  Moriling,  a  taylor,  testified  to  being 
present.  He  did  not  hear  any  violent  language 
used  except  that  Mr.  Howard  applied  an  epithet 
to  Pullman, 

James  Simmons  also  heard  Howard  speak, 
but  did  not  hear  him  counsel  violence. 

Alexander  Quasso  said  he  was  present  when 
Howard  spoke  but  heard  no  violence  counseled 
except  some  reference  by  Mr.  Howard  to  the 
justice  of  hanging    Pullman. 

Vice  President  Howard  now  took  the  stand 


274  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

and  testified  regarding  his  speech  at  Blue  Island. 
He  said: 

"I  want  to  begin  by  saying  that  among  rail- 
road men  particularly  trainmen,  it  has  been  a 
constant  habit  and  practice  and  has  been  for 
years,  to  use  a  certain  class  of  expressions  which 
literally  are  very  offensive  in  the  lightest  and 
most  ordinary  way,  and  without  meaning  any- 
thing in  particular  about  them .  Every  old  railroad 
man  can  bear  me  out  in  this.  A  railroad  man 
will  address  his  best  friend  with  a  most  offensive 
epithet  uttered  in  a  most  cordial  way  and  in- 
tended to  express  cordiality,  so  that  the  term  I 
applied  to  Pullman,  has  among  railroad  men  a 
technical  meaning,  very  broad  it  is  true  and  ex- 
pressing according  to  the  circumstances  very 
different  sentiments.  But  its  use  is  so  common 
and  I  may  say  usual,  that  it  has  altogether 
lost  the  meaning  it  has,  among  others  than  rail- 
road men. 

"I  was  telling  them  the  condition  of  things 
at  Pullman.  I  told  them  of  incidents  that  have 
been  testified  to  before  this  commission.  I  was 
trying  to  array  them  against  Pullman.  I  used 
the  language  of  railroad  men  and  I  applied  tq 
Mr.  Pullman   the  epithet   I   am   charged    witl^ 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  275 

using.  But  I  used  it  in  the  railroad  sense.  I 
said  he  ought  to  be  hung,  that  is  another  rail- 
road expression. 

*'I  did  not  say  that  I  would  like  to  take 
part  in  the  hanging  or  lead  a  part\^  to  hang  him. 
As  to  the  coupling  pin  expression,  what  I  said 
at  Blue  Island,  I  have  said  at  hundreds  of  other 
places,  it  was  this  I  told  them,  it  was  often  said 
that  capital  would  always  defeat  labor.  I  denied 
this.  I  said  that  capital  could  only  whip  labor 
when  it  could  divide  it,  and  make  labor  defeat 
itself.  That  in  the  last  few  years  a  wave  of  re- 
ligious intolerence  had  swept  over  this  country, 
and  the  representatives  of  the  railroads  had 
taken  advantage  of  it  as  a  means  of  dividing 
labor.  I  gave  instances  where  some  emissary  of 
the  railroads  would  come  in,  and  going  to  the 
protestant  members,  instill  distrust  in  their  minds 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  members,  and  then  going 
to  the  Roman  Catholics  anl  creating  distrust 
of  the  Protestants.  I  urged  them  not  to  allow 
themselves  to  be  divided  in  the  labor  movement 
by  questions  of  religious  differences,  and  I  said 
that  if  any  of  those  sleuths,  and  I  may  have  said 
sleuths  of  hell,  come  into  this  movement  to  ar- 
ray you  against  each  other  in  a  question  of  re- 


276  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

ligion,  1  hope  some  one  will  have  the  nerve  to  hit 
him  on  the  head  with  a  round  end  coupling  pin 
and  send  him  to  his  last  long  sleep. 

"I  said  nothing  about  injuring  men  who  came 
to  take  their  places.  I  told  them  if  they  struck, 
to  put  on  their  good  clothes  and  keep  away  from 
the  railroad  property.  If  the  railroads  could  get 
men  to  run  their  roads,  let  them,  but  if  the  men 
stood  together,  were  united,  the  roads  couldn't 
get  men  and  would  have  to  yield. 

"Far  from  advising  violence,  I  have  always 
advised  against  it.  I  have  some  questions  I 
would  like  the  commission  to  put  to  the  general 
managers,  either  here,  or  in  Washington.  They 
are  these : 

"1st.  Were  not  the  general  managers  whip- 
ped on  July  5,  before  there  had  been  any  violence 
to  array  public  opinion  against  the  strikers,  and 
before  the  troops  were  here  and  by  their  presence 
provoked  violence? 

"2d.  Did  your  company  have  a  contract 
with  the  government  to  carry  the  mails? 

"3d.  Was  the  contract  dependent  upon  your 
ability  to  carry  Pullmans? 

"4th.     Did  your  contract  with  the  Pullman 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  277 

Company  require  you  to  refuse  to  transport  mail 
if  you  left  the  Pullmans  off? 

**5th.  Did  the  strikers  interfere  to  prevent 
carrying  of  the  mails  if  you  left  the  Pullmans 
off? 

"6th.  Could  you  not  have  carried  mails,  if 
you  did  not  insist  in  hauling  Pullmans  ? 

"7th.  Was  your  contract  with  the  govern- 
ment less  binding  on  you  than  your  contract 
with  the  Pullman  Company,  or  was  either  de- 
pendent on  the  other?" 

Mr.  Kernan  had  no  objection  to  the  questions 
being  put  to  the  general  managers,  but  did  not 
think,  under  the  circumstances,  the  commission 
could  prolong  its  sitting  in  order  to  ask  them. 

Mayor  John  P.  Hopkins  \vas  then  called 
and  cordially  shook  hands  with  the  commis- 
sioners before  taking  the  witness  chair.  His  ex- 
amination was  conducted  by  Judge  Worthington 
as  follows: 

Mr.  Worthington:  "As  mayor  of  the  city 
and  the  actual  head  of  the  police  department, 
please  state  the  general  conduct  of  the  police  force 
during  the  strike  and  the  conditions  attenting 
the  strike." 

Mr.  Hopkins :    "  The  evening  of  June  25,  Mr. 


278  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTf . 

EUswortli,  who  claimed  to  represent  the  difiei'- 
ent  railroads,  called  on  me  and  said  he  under- 
stood a  boycott  was  to  be  enforced  on  all  roads 
hauling  Pullman  cars.  He  said  he  understood  I 
was  going  to  Sprinfield  that  night  and  wished 
me  to  give  instructions  to  the  chief  of  police  and 
arrange  for  the  protection  of  the  roads.  So  far 
as  I  know,  the  police  did  all  the  work  required 
of  them,  and  I  have  ample  assurance  of  that  fact 
from  railway  officials. 

"This  condition  existed  until  July  5.  That 
morning  Mr.  Wright  of  the  Rock  Island  called  at 
my  office  and  claimed  that  riotous  mobs  were  in- 
terfering with  the  operation  of  trains,  overturn- 
ing cars,  etc.  I  went  with  him  to  the  office  of 
Mr.  Cable  of  the  Rock  Island  road,  where  we  dis- 
cussed the  matter.  Mr.  Cable  said  he  thought 
the  police  were  not  doing  their  duty,  but  from 
the  information  I  had  received,  I  was  confident 
that  such  was  not  the  case.  I  then  suggested 
that  Mr.  Cable  go  with  me  to  the  scene  of  the 
alleged  trouble,  but  he  said  that  he  did  not 
think  it  safe  to  do  so.  I  proposed  the  same  plan 
to  Mr.  Wright,  but  he  made  the  same  objection. 
I  then  saw  the  corporation  counsel  and  sug- 
gested the  same   plan,    which   he   accepted.     A 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  279 

switch  engine  was  secured  and  we  went.  A 
crowd  of  probably  3,000  or  3,500  persons, 
mostly  women  and  children,  had  assembled  at 
that  point.  On  the  tracks  at  Thirty-seventh 
street  four  trains  were  standing,  and  just  north 
of  them  an  empty  freight  car  was  lying  across 
the  tracks.  Half  an  hour  after  we  arrived,  a 
wrecking  crew,  accompanied  by  young  Newell, 
Attorney  Wright,  and  other  officials  came  up, 
and  they  started  to  take  the  car  off  the  track. 
On  going  down  we  had  found  the  tracks  entirely 
unobstructed,  but  on  going  back  found  ten  or 
fifteen  overturned  cars.  I  thought  the  police  did 
all  the}'  could  to  prevent  such  an  occurrence.  I 
stayed  about  two  hours,  when  I  came  back 
and  issued  the  proclamation  to  the  people  which 
was  published.  I  also  instructed  the  chief  of 
police  to  suspend  all  officers  who  had  been 
stationed  at  the  crossings  where  the  cars  were 
overturned. 

' '  That  night  I  wired  the  governor  at  Spring- 
field, that  the  militia,  which  had  been  preparing 
to  go  into  camp  there,  had  better  be  retained 
in  the  city,  as  it  might  be  advisable  to  call  out 
the  troops  within  twenty-four  hours.  The  same 
night  about  10:30,  I   was   at  the   Hyde   Park 


280  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

police  station  when  I  heard  that  the  "Diamond 
Special"  had  been  stopped  at  Kensington  and 
that  large  crowds  had  congregated  there.  In- 
spector Hunt  sent  re-inforcements  to  that  point, 
and  when  I  retired  ever3rthing  seemed  quiet. 
Friday  morning,  July  6,  which  was  the  first  time 
the  railroads  had  intimated  that  the  protection 
afforded  them  was  inadequate,  I  heard  from 
Kensington  that  there  was  trouble  in  the  Rock 
Island  and  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois  roads.  I 
then  called  on  the  governor  for  five  regiments  of 
the  state  militia.  Saturday,  at  3:30  p.  m.,  some 
trouble  occurred  at  Forty-seventh  and  Loomis 
streets,  where  a  mob  had  collected.  The  state 
troops  fired  and  killed  one  man,  two  others  dy- 
ing afterward.  There  was  no  trouble  after  that, 
so  far  as  I  know." 

Mayor  Hopkins  then  read  a  number  of  com- 
munications from  railway  officials  expressing 
satisfaction  in  regard  to  the  perfect  protection 
afforded  by  the  police  during  the  strike.  Among 
these  were  letters  from  President  Marvin  Hugh- 
itt  of  the  North-western,  General  Superintendent 
Sullivan  of  the  Illinois  Central,  President  Thomas 
of  the  Chicago  &  "Western  Indiana,  and  others. 
Several  officers  who  were  deemed  worthy  of  pro- 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  281 

motion  for  their  good  services  at  critical  times 
were  mentioned  in  a  letter  from  a  Santa  Fe  offi- 
cial. The  mayor  then  continued  his  testimony 
as  follows: 

"So  far  as  the  management  of  the  police  was 
concerned  I  think  it  was  excellent.  I  wish  to 
state  that  the  Blue  Island  police  are  governed  by 
the  officials  of  that  town.  The  word  police  has 
been  referred  to  indiscriminateh^  in  the  testimony, 
leaving  the  impression  that  Blue  Island  was  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  city. 

**  There  was  very  little  resistance  to  the  po- 
lice. The  strikers  treated  me  all  right,  and  the 
crowds  seemed  good-natured.  There  was  some 
resistence  to  the  police,  I  believe,  on  the  night  of 
July  7,  at  Ashland  avenue  and  the  Northwestern 
tracks.  The  police  fired  and  killed  a  woman  on 
the  roof  of  a  house  in  the  neighborhood." 

Mr.  Worthington:  "How  manj^  were  killed 
in  all  or  who  have  since  died  in  consequence  of 
injuries  received  ?  " 

Mr.  Hopkins:  "About  seven,  I  thmk  ii»  Chi- 
cago. Three  at  Forty-seventh  and  Loomis  streets, 
one  at  Kensington,  the  woman  just  mentioned, 
and  I  think  two  others." 


!28^  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

Mr.  Worthington :  "Please  state  about  the 
militia  engaged  during  the  strike." 

Mr.  Hopkins:  "I  will  read  my  copy  of  the 
telegram  to  the  govemoi  to  which  I  referred. 
The  next  day  I  again  telegraphed  the  governor 
suggesting  that  five  regiments  be  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  the  city.  In  one  half  hour  I  received 
an  answer  stating  that  the  militia  had  been 
ordered  to  report.  There  was  virtually  the  entire 
militia  of  the  state  in  service,  probably  2,000 
men.  The  last  detachment  went  home  Au- 
gust 6." 

Mr.  Worthington:  "You  have  stated  that 
you  gave  orders  to  suspend  officers  at  certain 
crossings.    Why  was  that?" 

Mr.  Hopkins:  "The  officers  complained  that 
people  jumped  over  the  fences  and  that  they  could 
not  prevent  them.  The  Rock  Island  road  is  pro- 
tected on  each  side  of  the  right-of-way  by  low 
fences,  and  empty  freight  cars  were  standing  for 
many  blocks  on  the  side  track  next  the  fence. 
The.  people  who  lived  near  the  tracks  could  easily 
jump  the  fence  unseen  and  tip  the  cars  over.  I 
ordered  the  men  suspended  for  the  general  effect 
it  would  have  on  the  force." 

Mr.  Worthington:      "I  would  like  to  ask   a 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  283 

general  question.  As  mayor  of  the  city,  do  you 
think  the  police,  or  a  jDortion  of  them,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  took  a  part  in  promoting 
the  strike  in  any  way?" 

Mr.  Hopkins:  "I  would  not  deny  that  some 
of  the  men  had  sympathy  wnth  the  strikers. 
I  am  in  sympathy  m^'self  with  the  Pullman 
strikers." 

Mr.  Worthington:  "But  do  you  think  the 
police  did  their  duty?" 

Mr.  Hopkins:  "Yes,  sir.  Several  times  Mr. 
Eagan  telephoned  that  trouble  was  occurring  at 
some  point.  When  officers  would  investigate 
thc}^  would  find  no  trouble  at  all.  There  are  2,100 
miles  of  railway  in  the  city  limits;  there  are 
1,360  trains  dail}-,  160  railroad  crossings,  and 
3,000  surface  railroad  crossings.  The  police  force 
for  this  year  is  scheduled  at  1,928  patrolmen. 
There  are  186  square  miles  of  territory  in  the 
cit}"  and  you  can  readily  see  that  every  point 
could  not  be  covered  at  once.  The  amount  ot 
violence  was  not  very  great.  In  Pullman  not 
one  pane  of  glass  was  broken  in  the  three 
months  of  the  strike.  I  live  in  Pullman  my- 
self." 

Mr.  Worthington:    "You  may  state  w^hether 


284  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT, 

at  any  time  you  advised  the  American  Railway 
Union  or  its  members  to  strike?" 

Mr.  Hopkins:    "No,  sir." 

Mr.  Worthington:  "Did  the  General  Man- 
ager's Association  either  during  or  since  the 
strike  request  the  city  to  arrest  any  individual 
strikers  or  suggest  such  arrest?" 

Mr.  Hopkins:  "No,  sir;  I  think  that  Pres- 
ident Newell  swore  out  a  warrant  for  a  man 
named  Hall,  but  the  information  was  furnished 
by  the  city." 

Mr.  Worthington:  "Has  the  American  Rail- 
way Union  brought  in  any  information  of  this 
character?" 

Mr.  Hopkins:  "Yes,  sir;  in  the  case  of  Hall, 
who  was  charged  with  turning  over  cars;  also 
in  other  cases,  which  upon  investigation  we  con- 
cluded not  to  take  up." 

Mr.  Worthington:  "Then  the  disposition  of 
the  American  Railway  Union  appears  to  have 
been  to  assist  the  city?" 

Mr.  Hopkins:     "Yes,  sir." 

Mr.  Worthington:  "During  or  before  the 
strike  were  there  any  overtures  made  in  regard 
to  arbitration  ?  ' ' 

Mr.  Hopkins:    "I  met  Mr.  Pullman  at  lunch 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  285 

in  the  Chicago  club  one  day  and  he  told  me  of 
a  meeting  his  employes  had  held.  Then  July  3, 
there  was  a  further  talk  about  protecting  the 
works  on  the  following  day  when  trouble  might 
be  expected.  There  was  some  talk  about  a  set- 
tlement, but  the  company  seemed  to  regard  the 
strikers  as  law  breakers.  Then  a  committe  of 
the  council  was  appointed,  and  word  sent  to  Mr. 
Eagan,  but  he  said  he  couldn't  come.  Then  the 
committee  called  at  Mr.  Pullman's  office  to  dis- 
cuss the  question  of  arbitration— or  if  there  was 
anything  to  arbitrate.  The  answer  received  there 
was  that  the  company  refused  to  arbitrate. 
July  11,  I  received  a  telegram  from  Mayor  Pin- 
gree  of  Detroit,  asking  if  I  would  act  with  him 
in  endeavoring  to  settle  the  strike.  He  had  com- 
munications from  fifty  other  mayors  giving  their 
views  on  the  question.  We  saw  Mr.  Wickes,  Mr. 
Runnels  and  Mr.  Brown,  and  had  a  long  interview. 
Mayor  Pingree  took  the  point  that  arbitration 
should  be  tested,  and  made  a  strong  argument. 
He  is  a  member  of  a  shoe  manufacturing  firm 
and  related  his  own  experience  in  a  strike  of  nine 
months'  duration.  Mr.  Wickes,  Mr.  Runnels  and 
Mr.  Brown  withdrew  and  prepared  a  statement 
giving  the  position  of  the  company  and  declining 


286  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

the  proposition.  On  July  13,  Mr.  Debs,  Mr.  How- 
ard, and  Mr.  Kelliher  prepared  a  communication 
to  the  railway  managers  offering  to  settle  the 
strike  if  the  railroads  would  re-instate  the  men 
as  individuals  or  such  men  as  had  committed  no 
overt  acts.  With  Mr.  McGillen  I  went  over  with 
the  document  to  Mr.  St.  John.  What  occurred 
there  has  heen  published.  Now,  while  I  thnik  of 
it,  I  want  to  say  that  the  statement  published 
in  some  papers  that  Mr.  St.  John  told  me  I 
should  not  act  as  a  messenger  boy  for  the  Amer- 
ican Railway  Union  is  false.  I  deny  most  em- 
phatically that  Mr.  St.  John  used  those  words  I 
should  not  have  allowed  it.  This  was  the  last 
action  on  my  part  to  bring  about  a  settlement. 

"It  has  been  said  that  I  protested  against 
the  presence  of  the  federal  troops  in  the  city.  I 
do  say  that  the  railways  had  never  complained 
that  the  civil  authorities  were  unable  to  protect 
the  roads.  I  have  never  protested  against  the 
federal  troops  and  think  they  did  some  good." 

Mr.  Worthington:  "It  has  been  stated  in 
the  press  that  you  applied  to  Mr.  Debs  to  move 
trains." 

Mr.  Hopkins:  "That  is  not  true.  A  man 
named  Brenock  has  a  contract  with  the  city  to 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  287 

remove  dead  an:mals,  the  place  where  they  are 
rendered  being  over  the  Indiana  state  Une.  He 
called  upon  me  and  said  that  there  was  a  train 
load  of  dead  animals  at  the  stock  yards  which 
could  not  be  pulled  out;  the  men  had  quit  work. 
I  said  I  thought  a  voltneeer  crew  of  trainmen 
could  be  procured  which  would  do  the  work.  I 
sent  my  secretary  to  the  American  Railway 
Union  with  that  request.  A  crew  went  down  to 
the  yards  and  manned  the  train.  When  it  pro- 
ceeded some  distance  it  was  discovered  that  a 
train  load  of  dressed  beef  had  been  substituted 
and  the  train  crew  abandoned  the  cars.  The 
dead  animals  then  remained  where  they  were  for 
several  days." 

Mr.  Kernan:  "Then  this  action  was  simply 
a  plan  to  guard  the  public  health  ?  " 

Mr.  Hopkins:  "Yes,  sir;  simply  to  remove 
the  dead  animals  from  the  city  limits." 

At  the  conclusion  of  Mayor  Hopkins'  testi- 
mony, President  Carroll  D.  Wright  arose  and  de- 
clared the  commission  formally  adjourned  until 
Wednesday,  Sept.  26,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

ALTGELD    INYESTIGATES    PULLMAN. 

In  response  to  a  piteous  appeal  for  help 
from  a  committee  of  Pullman  strikers,  John  P,. 
Altgeld,  governor  of  Illinois,  came  in  person  to 
the  town  of  Pullman  and  made  an  investigation 
of  the  condition  of  the  people  in  order  to  satisfy 
himself  regarding  their  complaints  of  suffering  and 
destitution.  After  only  a  partial  investigation 
the  governor  returned  to  his  hotel  satisfied  with 
the  correctness  of  the  reports. 

He  said  the  starvation  at  Pullman  was  as  bad 
if  not  worse  than  had  been  reported  by  the 
Times  that  1,600  families  in  Pullman  and  vicinity 
were  starving. 

"Not  only  starving,"  said  the  governor, 
"but  they  are  without  fuel  and  in  rags.  They 
must  not  starve  and  I  will  remain  in  Pullman 
until  some  means  can  be  devised  for  their  relief. 

"I  went  to  Pullman  in  response  to  an  invi- 
tation by  the  strikers'  committee,  and  found 
matters  even  worse  than   represented.    I  visited 

288 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  289 

their  homes  and  went  through  every  room  in 
some  of  their  houses.  Two  representatives  of 
the  Pullman  company  who  accompanied  me, 
admitted  that  the  houses  visited  were  a  fair 
representation  of  every  house  occupied  by  the 
strikers'  families.  Their  condition  is  pitiful, 
there  are  families  numbering  from  two  to  eight 
members  and  I  tell  you  they  are  slowly  starving 
to  death.  The  little  ones  are  crying  with  hun- 
ger and  there  is  nothing  in  the  house  to  eat. 
Something  for  their  relief  must  be  done  immedi- 
ately. I  have  thought  of  several  measures,  but 
as  yet  have  arrived  at  no  conclusion.  For  sev- 
eral months  the  people  may  have  to  be  cared  for, 
and  it  is  well  to  go  slow  v^hen  one  is  treading 
in  deep  water.  I  suppose  I  will  be  abused  no 
matter  w^hat  steps  I  take,  but  I  don't  care  a 
blank,  as  these  people  will  not  starve  if  I  can 
prevent  it,  and  I  shall  see  that  I  do  prevent  it." 

The  governor  declined  to  say  anything  in 
relation  to  the  cause  which  created  the  present 
condition  at  Pullman.  He  said  it  was  enough 
to  know  that  women  and  children  were  crying 
with  hunger,  it  was  time  enough  to  talk  about 
the  causes  later. 

Upon  the  governor's    arrival    at  Pullman,  a 

19 


290  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

big  man  with  gray  whiskers  and  a  lordly  air  rushed 
forward  and  presented  his  card  to  his  excellency. 
He  was  August  Rapp,  chief  designer  of  the  com- 
pany and  formerly  superintendant  of  the  works. 
With  him  was  Chief  Wilde,  Pullman's  head  ac- 
countant, whom  he  presented.  It  was  evident 
that  the  governor  did  not  wish  to  see  the  Pull- 
man official. 

"Where  are  the  members  of  the  committee 
that  sent  for  me?"  he  demanded.  "I  want  to 
see  the  men."  Somewhat  abashed  Messrs.  Wilde 
and  Rapp  stepped  backward  and  three  or  four 
mechanics  came  forward.  There  was  Thos,  W. 
Heathcoat,  G.  A.  Kreamer,  Theo.  Rhode  and 
two  or  three  members  of  the  relief  committee. 
"I  want  to  see  what  you  men  have  to  show 
me,"  said  the  governor. 

They  repaired  at  once  to  the  tenements  on 
Fulton  street,  where  the  first  stop  was  made  at 
No.  124,  occupied  by  Mrs.  O'Halleron.  A  blind 
widow  was  found  occupying  four  small  rooms  on 
the  first  floor.  She  told  the  governor  that  she  had 
two  sons  aged  nineteen  and  fourteen  respectively 
and  a  daughter  aged  twenty.  All  three  had 
worked  for  Pullman  but  were  now  idle.  They 
had  applied  for  work  but   were   told  there  was 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  291 

no  work  for  them.  One  of  the  boys  had  been  a 
brass  polisher  and  the  younger  son  and  the 
daughter  had  worked  in  the  laundry.  They  had 
lived  in  the  town  seven  years.  There  was  no 
coal  in  the  house,  they  had  a  little  food,  given 
them  by  the  relief  committee,  but  they  could  not 
support  themselves  and  said  there  was  no  one  to 
look  after  their  condition. 

"Have  the  Pullman  people  sent  any  one  to 
see  you?  " 

"They  have  not,"    replied  the  blind  woman. 

She  said  they  paid  $12.60  for  the  four  rooms. 
One  of  her  sons  had  drawn  $1.60  and  the  other 
96  cents  per  day. 

"Good  luck  to  you,  sir,"  she  said  as  the 
governor  walked  away  with  his  teeth  set  firmly 
together. 

F.  H.  Taylor,  superintendent  of  the  Pullman 
company,  had  now  joined  the  party  taking  the 
place  of  Accountant  Wilde.  Mr.  Rapp  pressed 
his  way  in  everywhere  though  paying  no  atten- 
tion to  the  audible  slurs  of  the  people  about 
him. 

Block  B,  across  the  way  on  Fulton  street 
was  next  visited.  The  manner  of  Gov.  Altgeld 
was  kindly  and  he  introduced  himself  in  a  pleas- 


292  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

ant  way,  asking  questions  in  a  manner  calcu- 
lated to  inspire  confidence. 

There  were  six  families  in  Block  B,  some  of 
the  tenants  had  gone  back  to  work.  A  poor 
woman  in  No.  3  said  her  husband  was  not  work- 
ing, he  had  been  in  Pullman  for  six  years  and  had 
asked  to  return  to  work,  but  was  told  there 
was  nothing  for  him  to  do,  the  shop  was  full. 
She  had  three  little  children  but  little  to  eat, 
only  a  bit  of  flour,  coffee  and  tea  from  the  relief 
store  left. 

In  Block  S,  room  7,  was  John  Carlson,  a 
cabinet  maker  who  had  worked  in  Pullman  for 
seven  years  and  could  not  get  his  position  back 
He  had  nothing  in  the  house  to  eat. 

"Have  YOU  eaten  to-day?"  asked  the  gov- 
ernor. 

"I  had  some  bread  and  coffee  from  a  neigh- 
bor," said  the  man.  "My  wife  is  sick  and  I 
divided  with  her,  we  havn't  a  thing  in  the  house 
now. 

Theo.  Ericson,  of  301  Fulton  street,  had  six 
in  family.  He  said  he  could  not  get  work  and 
the  money  he  had  saved  before  the  strike  was 
all  gone.  The  relief  committee  had  given  a  little 
food. 


1?HE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  293 

"How  many  in  Pullman,"  said  the  governor, 
"are  in  the  same  fix,  whom  you  know  of?  " 

"Lots  of  men,  sir,  I  know  of  half  a  dozen  in 
my  neighborhood,"  answered  the  man. 

Olaf  Olson  had  worked  in  the  street  car  shops 
and  was  now  idle.  He  had  six  children  and  his 
wife  to  care  for,  they  have  nothing  to  eat,  and 
he  could  get  nothing  from  the  relief  committee 
as  their  supplies  were  exhausted. 

Otto  Wullf,  of  room  22,  Block  F,  also  had 
a  wife  and  six  children.  He  said  that  all  he  had  in 
the  house  to  eat  was  two  pounds  of  oat  meal 
from  the  relief  store.  As  he  told  his  story  tears 
rolled  down  the  cheeks  of  the  big  bearded  fellow 
and  the  governor  was  visibly  affected.  His 
wife  was  sick  abed  he  said  and  a  newspaper  re- 
porter dropped  a  quarter  into  his  hand  while 
he  used  a  handkerchief  to  remove  the  moisture 
from  his  eyes. 

The  man  stated  that  his  wages  had  been 
$1.30  per  day,  and  his  rent  $9.60  per  month  for 
four  small  rooms. 

Peter  Anderson,  of  Kensington,  said  he  had 
worked  in  the  repair  shop  but  could  not  get 
■work  now  as  the  shop  was  filled,  or  at  least  so 
he  was  told  when  he  applied. 


294  THE  J'ULLMAN  BOYCOTT, 

He  had  five  children  and  not  enough  to  eat. 
He  had  borrowed  a  dollar  with  which  to  buy  a 
sack  of  flour.    This  was  all  he  had. 

Mr.  Yanderwein  had  a  wife  and  four  child- 
ren and  could  not  get  a  position.  He  had  no 
money  and  only  two  pounds  of  oat  meal,  two 
pounds  of  corn  meal  and  a  little  flour  left. 

Here  someone  whispered  to  the  governor  and 
the  latter  turned  to  Mr.  Rapp  and  said : 

"They  tell  me  you  are  taking  the  names  of 
those  who  complain,  with  a  view  of  keeping 
them  out  of  work?  " 

"That  is  not  so,  sir,"  said  Rapp,  coloring 
deeply. 

"And,"  said  the  governor,  "they  tell  me  you 
are  largely  responsible  for  the  reduction  of  the 
wages?" 

"That  is  not  so,  sir,"  persisted  Mr.  Rapp. 

"Well,  men,"  said  the  governor  let  him  come 
with  us,  this  must  not  be  a  star  chamber 
aff"air." 

A  boy  named  Koopka  spoke  for  his  father 
who  did  not  understand  English. 

He  was  one  of  three  children  he  said,  and 
they  hadn't  enough  to  eat.     No  relief  could  be 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  295 

obtained  now  and  every  thing  was  gone  but 
a  few  potatoes. 

Mrs.  Nathan  Booth  stepped  forward.  She 
said  she  had  six  children,  all  barefooted,  the 
oldest  eleven  years,  and  the  youngest  six  months. 
They  had  been  two  years  in  Pullman  and  her 
husband  had  earned  $1.30  per  day.  He  had  no 
work  now,  and  the  only  food  was  that  given 
them  by  the  wife  of  the  Methodist  minister. 

Andrew  Schelly  said  he  had  worked  for  the 
Pullman  companj^  twelve  years  but  could  get 
no  work  now,  and  his  family  had  nothing  to 
eat.  He  had  borrowed  a  pair  of  shoes  in  which 
he  could  seek  work. 

A.  Bergstrom  for  seven  years  in  Pullman 
said  he  could  not  get  his  old  position.  He  had 
five  children,  the  eldest  ten  years,  and  they  had 
no  money,  no  food,  no  trust. 

Frank  Mass  had  been  three  years  in  Pullman, 
had  three  children  and  nothing  to  eat. 

The  wife  of  Pat  Mullen,  of  Block  E,  room  1, 
appeared  with  a  child  in  her  arms  and  a  toddler 
at  her  skirts. 

They  had  been  in  Pullman  twelve  years  and 
and  had  four  other  children.  Her  husband  could 
not  get  back   to  work  because  he  was  on   the 


296  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

strike  committee.  She  did  not  know  where  the 
next  meal  was  to  come  from. 

Though  wretchedly  poor  these  people  were 
clean  and  neat.  They  are  all  of  the  better  class 
of  laboring  people. 

John  Cedarland  sat  at  a  table  and  stared  sto- 
lidly at  the  visitors,  while  his  wife  with  a  baby 
at  her  breast  and  two  at  her  heels  stood  by.  A 
neighbor  who  had  given  them  of  her  scanty 
store,  said  the  man  was  sick  and  the  family 
destitute.  On  Sunday  she  had  given  them  a 
piece  of  meat,  and  wood  with  which  to  cook 
it. 

A  reporter  slipped  a  quarter  into  her  hand 
and  received  a  look  worth  $8.00. 

Two  of  John  Smith's  collectors,  out  with 
furniture  bills  as  a  matter  of  form,  told  the  gov- 
ernor that  two-thirds  of  the  old  men  were  still 
idle,  and  that  the  condition  of  these  men  was 
deplorable.  They  had  called  at  one  place  where 
one  of  the  children  was  celebrating  its  birthday 
and  all  there  was  for  the  feast  was  bread  and 
onions.  The  collectors  chipped  in  for  a  few 
luxuries. 

Mrs.  Peter  Camp  appeared  with  two  child- 
ren  and   reported    five  more,    and    there   were 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  297 

scores  of  similar  cases,  all  destitute  and  abso- 
lutely without  food. 

On  his  way  back  to  the  city  the  governor 
would  say  but  little. 

Mr.  Wickes,  vice  president  of  the  Pullman  com- 
pany called  and  was  presented  to  his  excellency  in 
due  form.  The  object  of  his  visit  was  to  tender 
his  services  as  guide  and  escort. 

This  was  declined. 

Mr.  Wickes  expressed  his  regret  that  the 
governor  saw  fit  not  to  accept  the  offer. 

As  a  result  of  Gov.  Altgeld's  investigation 
he  issued  the  following  proclamation : 

"To  THE  People  of  Illinois,  and  Especi- 
ally Those  of  the  City  of  Chicago:  There 
is  great  distress  growing  out  of  the  want  of 
food  in  and  around  the  town  of  Pullman.  More 
than  a  thousand  families  in  the  neighborhood 
of  6,000  people,  are  utterly  destitute.  Nearly 
four-fifths  of  them  are  women  and  children. 
The  men  have  endeavored  to  get  work  but  were 
unable  to  do  so.  I  have  made  a  personal  ex- 
amination of  the  case  and  learn  from  the  offi- 
cials of  the  Pullman  company  that  prior  to  the 
strike  they  had  3,260  names  on  the  pay  roll; 
yesterday  they  had  2,220   people  at  work,  but 


298  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

over  600  of  these  were  new  men,  so  that  they 
have  only  about  1,600  of  their  old  employes  at 
work,  leaving  about  1,660  that  have  not  been 
taken  back.  Several  hundreds  of  these  have 
left,  but  the  remainder  are  unable  to  go  away 
and  have  nothing  to  eat.  I  find  that  immediatel}'- 
after  the  beginning  of  the  strike  a  relief  associa- 
tion was  formed  to  provide  for  the  needy,  and 
the  books  of  this  association  show  that  2,463 
applications  were  made  by  the  Pullman  employes, 
mostly  heads  of  families,  to  this  association  for 
aid.  In  fact,  nearly  all  of  the  employes,  except 
the  few  hundred  who  left,  have  been  supported 
by  charity  for  nearly  three  months. 

"As  a  rule  they  are  a  superior  class  of 
laboring  people,  industrious,  capable,  and  steady 
and  some  of  them  have  worked  for  the  Pullman 
company  for  more  than  ten  years.  Those  who 
have  been  given  work  can  get  food,  but  are  still 
in  such  an  impoverished  condition  that  they 
cannot  help  their  neighbors  if  they  would.  The 
relief  society  is  unable  to  get  more  supplies. 
Last  Saturday  it  gave  to  each  family  two 
pounds  of  oat  meal  and  two  pounds  of  corn 
meal,  and  having  nothing  left  it  suspended  oper- 
ations, leaving  the  people  in  an  absolutely  help- 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  299 

less  condition.  The  county  commissioners  of 
Cook  count}^  as  overseers  of  the  poor,  have 
rendered  some  assistance,  but  owing  to  limited 
appropriation  they  can  furnish  relief  but  for  a 
short  time. 

"We  cannot  now  stop  to  inquire  into  the 
cause  of  this  distress.  The  good  people  of  this 
state  cannot  allow  women  and  children  by  the 
hundred  to  perish  of  hunger.  I  therefore  call 
upon  all  humane  and  charitably  disposed  citizens 
to  contribute  what  they  can  toward  giving 
relief  to  these  people.  I  am  satisfied  that  any 
contribution  sent  to  the  Pullman  relief  com- 
mittee at  Kensington,  111.,  will  be  judiciously  dis- 
tributed. I  find  their  treasurer  has  given  a  bond 
to  properly  account  for  all  moneys  received. 
"John  P.  Altgeld. 
"Aug.  21,  1894.  Governor. 

"To  THE  Honorable,  the  Board  of 
County  Commissioners  of  Cook  County  — 
Gentlemen :  Your  attention  has  already  been 
called  to  the  great  destitution  that  exists  in  and 
around  the  town  of  Pullman  and  3'ou  have  fur- 
nished some  relief  there.  I  haA^e  made  a  personal 
investigation  of  the  conditions  there  and  find 
the  suffering  is  very  great   for  want  of  food.    I 


300  TfHE  PULLMAN  BOVCOf  t. 

respectiully  appeal  to  you  as  the  officers  upon 
whom  devolves  the  duty  of  providing  for  cases 
of  this  kind,  that  you  do  the  uttermost  in  your 
power  to  furnish  immediate  assistance  to  those 
people.  Very  respectfully, 

"John  P.   Altgeld. 
"Aug.  21,  1894.  Governor." 

Before  leaving  Springfield  to  investigate  the 
condition  at  Pullman,  Gov.  Altgeld  sent  the  fol- 
lowing telegram  to  Mr.  Pullman: 

"Aug.  19,  1894. 
"iGeorge  M.  Pullman,  President  of  the  Pullman's 
Palace  Car  Company,  Chicago,  111.: 
*I  have  received  numerous  reports  to  the 
effect  that  there  is  great  distress  at  Pullman. 
To-day  I  received  a  formal  appeal  as  governor 
from  a  committee  of  the  Pullman  people  for  aid. 
They  state  that  1,600  families,  including  women 
and  children,  are  starving ;  that  they  cannot  get 
work  and  have  not  the  means  to  go  elsewhere;  that 
your  company  has  brought  men  from  all  over 
the  United  States  to  fill  their  places.  Now,  these 
people  live  in  your  town  and  were  your  em- 
ployes. Some  of  them  worked  for  your  com- 
pany for  many  years.  They  must  be  people  of 
industry  and  character  or  you  would  not  have 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  301 

kept  them.  Many  of  them  have  practically 
given  their  lives  to  you.  It  is  claimed  that  they 
struck  because  after  years  of  toil  their  wages 
were  so  reduced  that  their  children  went  hungr3^ 
Assuming  that  they  were  wrong  and  foolish, 
they  had  yet  served  j^ou  long  and  well  and  you 
must  feel  some  interest  in  them.  They  do  not 
stand  on  the  same  footing  with  you,  so  that 
much  must  be  overlooked.  The  state  of  Illinois 
has  not  the  least  desire  to  meddle  in  the  affairs 
of  your  company,  but  it  cannot  allow  a  whole 
community  within  its  borders  to  perish  of  hun- 
ger. The  local  overseer  of  the  poor  has  been 
appealed  to,  but  there  is  a  limit  to  what  he  can 
do.  I  cannot  help  them  very  much  at  present, 
so  unless  relief  comes  from  some  other  source  I 
shall  either  have  to  call  an  extra  session  of  the 
legislature  to  make  special  appropriation  or  else 
issue  an  appeal  to  the  humane  people  of  the 
state  to  give  bread  to  your  recent  employes.  It 
seems  to  me  that  you  would  prefer  to  relieve  the 
situation  j-ourself,  especially  as  it  has  just  cost 
the  state  upward  of  $50,000  to  protect  your 
property  and  as  both  the  state  and  the  public 
have  sufiered  enormous  loss  and  expense  on  ac- 
count  of   distui-bances    that  grew  out   of  the 


303  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

trouble  between  your  company  and  its  workmen. 
I  am  going  to  Chicago  to-night  to  make  a  per- 
sonal investigation  before  taking  any  official 
action.  I  will  be  in  my  office  in  the  Unity  block 
at  10  A.  M.  to-morrow  and  shall  be  glad  to  hear 
from  you  if  you  care  to  make  any  reply. 

"John  P,  Altgeld." 
The   following  letter  was    addressed  to  Mr. 
Pullman  by  Gov.  Altgeld. 

"  Chicago,  IIJ.,  Aug.  21. 
"George  M.  Pullman,  President  of  the  Pull- 
man's Palace  Car  Company,  Chicago. 
"Sir:  I  examined  the  conditions  at  Pull- 
man yesterday,  visited  even  the  kitchens  and  bed- 
rooms of  many  of  the  people.  Two  representa- 
tives of  your  company  were  with  me  and  we 
found  the  distress  as  great  as  it  was  represented. 
The  men  are  hungry  and  the  women  and  child- 
ren are  actually  suffering.  They  have  been  living 
on  charity  for  a  number  of  months  and  it  is  ex- 
hausted. Men  -who  have  worked  for  your  com- 
pany for  more  than  ten  years  had  to  apply  to 
the  relief  society  in  two  weeks  after  the  work 
stopped.  I  learn  from  your  manager  that  last 
spring  there  were  3,260  people  on  the  pay  roll; 
yesterday  there  were    2,220  at  work,  but  over 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  303 

600  of  these  are  new  men,  so  that  only  about 
1,600  of  the  old  employes  have  been  taken  back, 
thus  leaving  over  1,000  of  the  old  employes  who 
have  not  been  taken  back.  A  few  hundred  have 
left.  The  remainder  have  nearly  all  applied  for 
work,  but  were  told  that  they  were  not  needed. 
These  are  utterlj^  destitute.  The  relief  committee 
last  Saturday  gave  out  two  pounds  of  oatmeal 
and  two  pounds  of  cornmeal  to  each  family,  but 
even  the  relief  committee  has  exhausted  its  re- 
sources. Something  must  be  done  at  once.  The 
cavse  differs  from  instances  of  destitution  found 
elsewhere,  for  generally  there  is  somebody  in  the 
neighborhood  able  to  give  relief.  This  is  not 
the  case  at  Pullman.  Even  those  who  have  gone 
to  work  are  so  exhausted  that  they  cannot  help 
their  neighbors  if  they  would.  I  repeat  now 
that  it  seems  so  me  j^our  company  cannot  afford 
to  have  me  appeal  to  the  charity  and  humanity 
of  the  state  to  saye  the  lives  of  your  old  em- 
ployes. Four-fifths  of  those  people  are  women 
and  children.  No  matter  what  caused  this 
distress  it  must  be  met. 

"If  you  will  allow  me  I  will  make  this  sug- 
gestion :  If  you  had  shut  down  your  w^orks  last 
fall    when     you   say    business    w^as    poor    you 


304  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

would  not  have  expected  to  get  any  rent  from 
your  tenants.  Now,  while  a  dollar  is  a  large 
sum  to  each  of  these  people  all  the  rent  now 
due  you  is  a  comparatively  small  matter  to  you. 
If  you  will  cancel  all  rent  to  Oct.  I,  you  will  be 
as  well  off  as  if  you  had  shut  down.  This 
would  enable  those  at  work  to  meet  their  most 
pressing  wants.  Then  if  you  cannot  give  work 
to  all,  work  some  half  time  so  that  all  can  at 
least  get  something  to  eat  for  their  families. 
This  will  give  immediate  relief  to  the  whole  sit- 
uation and  then  by  degrees  assist  as  many  to  go 
elsewhere  as  desire  to  do  so  and  all  to  whom 
you  cannot  give  work.  In  this  way  something 
like  a  normal  condition  could  be  re-established 
at  Pullman  before  winter  and  you  would  not  be 
out  any  more  than  you  would  have  been  had 
you  shut  down  a  year  ago.  I  will  be  at  the 
Unity  block  for  several  hours  and  will  be  glad  to 
see  you  if  you  care  to  make  any  reply. 

"Yours  respectfully, 
"John  P.  Altgeld." 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  305 

Mr.  Pullman  replied  as  follows: 

"The  Pullman's  Palace  Car  Company, 
"Office  of  the  President 

'•Chicago,  III.,  Aug.  21,  1894. 
"Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  your  letter  of  this  date,  giving  your 
impressions  derived  from  your  visit  to  the  town 
of  Pullman  yesterday.  In  pursuance  of  the  in- 
vitation contained  in  your  telegram  of  the  19th 
inst.  I  caused  Mr.  Wickes,  a  vice  president  of 
this  company,  who  is  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  its  affairs  at  Pullman,  to  call  upon  you 
and  offer  you  every  assistance  in  his  power  or 
which  could  be  offered  by  any  officer  of  the  com- 
pany in  making  your  proposed  personal  investi- 
gation. Mr.  Wickes  offered  to  accompany  you 
to  Pullman  for  this  purpose,  and  I  regret  that 
you  did  not  appear  to  consider  that  he  could 
be  of  service  to  you.  As  an  indication  of  the 
importance  of  the  aid  of  local  knowledge  in  mak- 
ing essential  discriminations  I  may  say  to  you 
that  I  have  the  best  reason  for  believing  that 
the  husband  of  a  wile  who  is  published  as  repre- 
senting her  family  to  you  yesterday  as  in  need  of 
help,  drew  more  than  $1,300  of  his  savings  from 


306  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

a  bank  July  2  last  for  the  purpose  as  he  said  of 
buying  lots. 

"While  it  has  not  been  represented  to  the 
officers  of  this  company  by  any  persons  concerned 
that  there  was  any  such  extended  distress  at 
Pullman,  as  was  represented  for  the  first  time 
by  the  extraordinary  method  of  a  published 
telegram  to  you  in  your  official  capacity,  I  do 
not  doubt  that  there  are  many  cases  of  need 
caused  by  the  refusal  of  the  employes  for  more 
than  two  and  one-half  months  to  earn  offered 
wages  of  more  than  $300,000;  and  that  such 
cases  have  been  increased  and  made  more  severe 
by  the  persistence  of  more  than  650  of  our 
employes,  of  whom  about  350  live  in  Pullman, 
in  refusing  to  apply  for  their  old  places  after  the 
strike  was  practically  over  and  after  they  were 
publicly  invited,  July  16,  to  resume  their  work, 
until  by  the  gradual  coming  in  of  new  men  dur- 
ing the  whole  month  their  places  have  been  filled 
and  the  full  force  engaged  for  all  work  in  hand. 
In  addition  to  this  there  is,  no  doubt,  need 
among  the  old  employes  living  in  Pullman,  a 
considerable  number  of  whom  have  persistently 
refused  to  apply  for  work  at  all,  many  of  them 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  307 

it  is  understood,  considering  themselves  to  be 
still  engaged  in  a  strike. 

"I  mention  these  things  so  that  the  responsi- 
bility for  the  existing  situation,  whatever  it  is 
may  not  be  improperlj^  placed.  The  situation, 
however,  is  one  which  must  be  dealt  with  without 
regard  to  what  has  caused  it,  and  I  shall  give  it 
the  consideration  which  is  due  from  the  com- 
pany. I  do  not,  however,  anticipate,  as  you 
appear  to  do,  that  those  emploj^es  who  have  re- 
sumed their  work  will  be  limited  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  their  most  pressing  wants,  and  as  to 
those  who  are  not  at  work  the  cancelling  of  their 
rents  is  not,  I  venture  to  suggest,  a  question  to 
which  attention  should  first  be  given  at  the  pres- 
ent juncture  if  their  pressing  needs  are  as  j^ou 
suppose  them  to  be.  The  company  will  continue 
in  its  efforts  to  secure  work  in  order  to  employ 
as  many  men  as  possible,  and  in  that  way  re- 
lieve the  situation  as  far  as  practicable, 

"Your  suggestion  that  the  work  should  be 
divided  so  that  a  sufficient  number  of  our  present 
employes  should  be  put  on  half  time  in  order  to 
give  at  least  half  time  work  for  all  was  tried 
last  winter.  The  restdt  has  been  that  the  gross 
earnings    of    various    indi\ndual   employes   were 


308  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

last  winter  so  small  as  to  give  an  erroneous  im- 
pression with  reference  to  the  sufficiency  of  the 
rate  of  wages.  The  policy  of  the  company  is 
now  to  employ  only  as  many  men  as  it  is  pos- 
sible to  fiimish  work  for  on  full  time. 
"  Very  respectfully  yours, 
"George  M.  Pullman, 

"President. 

"The  Hon.  John  P.  Altgeld,  Governor." 
"Chicago,  Aug.  21. 
"George   M.  Pullman,  Esq.,  President   the   Pull- 
man's Palace  Car  Company,  City. 

"Sir:  I  have  your  answer  to  my  communi- 
cation this  morning.  I  see  by  it  that  your  com- 
pany refuses  to  do  anything  toward  relieving  the 
situation  at  Pullman.  It  is  true  that  Mr.  Wickes 
offered  to  take  me  to  Pullmam  and  show  me 
around.  I  told  him  that  I  had  no  objection  to 
his  goi  :g,  but  that  I  doubted  the  wisdom  of 
my  going  under  anybody's  wing.  I  was,  how- 
ever, met  by  two  of  your  representatives,  both 
able  men,  who  accompanied  me  everywhere.  I 
took  pains  to  have  them  present  in  each  case.  I 
also  called  at  your  office  and  got  what  information 
they  could  give  there,  so  that  your  company 
was  represented   and  heard,  and  no   man  there 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  309 

questioned  either  the  condition  or  the  extent  of 
their  sufifering.  If  j^ou  will  make  the  round  I 
made,  go  into  the  houses  of  these  people,  meet 
them  face  to  face,  and  talk  with  them  3'ou  will  be 
convinced  that  none  of  them  had  $1,300  or  any 
other  sum  of  money  a  few  weeks  ago. 

"I  cannot  enter  into  a  discussion  with  j^ou 
as  to  the  merits  of  the  controversy  between  you 
and  your  former  workmen.  It  is  not  m}'  busi- 
ness to  fix  the  moral  responsibilit3^  in  this  case. 
There  are  nearly  6,000  people  suffering  for  the  want 
of  food — they  were  your  employes — four-fifths  of 
them  are  women  and  children — some  of  these 
people  have  worked  for  you  more  than  twelve 
years.  I  assume  that  even  if  they  were  wrong 
and  had  been  foolish  you  would  not  be  willing  to 
see  them  perish.  I  also  assume  that  as  the  state 
has  just  been  to  a  large  expense  to  protect  your 
property  you  would  not  want  to  have  the  pub- 
lic shoulder  the  burden  of  relieving  distress  in 
your  town. 

"As  you  refuse  to  do  anything  to  relieve  the 
suffering  in  this  case  I  am  compelled  to  appeal 
to  the  humanity  of  the  people  of  Illinois  to  do 
so.  Respectfully  yours, 

'^JoHN  P.  Altgeld." 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

CONCLUSION. 

The  condition  of  the  Pullman  strikers  elicited 
by  the  commission  appointed  by  President 
Cleveland  for  that  purpose  as  shown  by  the  pre- 
ceeding extracts  from  the  investigation,  was  known 
to  the  delegates  to  the  convention  of  the  Amer- 
ican Railway  Union  held  in  Chicago  in  June.  In 
turn  they  made  known  to  the  various  local 
unions  these  deplorable  conditions.  Hence  the 
boycott,  or  as  it  has  been  designated  by  the  gen- 
eral managers,  a  sympathetic  strike. 

They  have  been  charged  with  striking  with- 
out a  cause  other  than  a  fanciful  grievance  of 
the  Pullman  employe,  and  roundly  censured  for 
their  actions.  That  too  by  men  of  kind 
hearts  and  liberal  views  who  were  not  aware  of 
the  true  situation.  Had  this  commission  been 
appointed  previous  to  the  boycott,  it  i  s  my 
honest  conviction,  there  would  have  been  no 
trouble.  The  broad  inherent  spirit  of  humanity 
in  American  hearts  would  assert  itself,  and  the 

310 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  311 

powerful  voice  of  public  sentiment  would  terror- 
ize this  inhuman  corporation  into  doing  justice  to 
their  employes. 

The  defeat  of  the  strikers  was  attributed  to  a 
great  many  causes,  but  the  real  cause  can  be 
laid  to  the  federal  government  or  the  adminis- 
tration thereof. 

President  Cleveland,  it  is  said,  was  and  is  a 
partner  in  a  law  firm  who  are  employed  by  four 
of  the  largest  railroad  systems  in  the  United 
States.  The  cabinet,  with  a  few  exceptions,  are 
also  connected  with  railroad  corporations  either 
directly  or  indirectly. 

The  federal  courts  are  absolutely  owned  b}^ 
the  railroads,  and  consequently  the  whole  fed- 
eral government  was  arrayed  against  the 
strikers. 

The  federal  judges  prostituted  the  courts  to 
the  use  of  the  railroads  in  granting  injunctions 
to  restrain  the  officers  of  the  American  Railway 
Union  from  acting  in  any  form  for  or  with  that 
organization.  From  the  time  that  Mr.  Debs  w^as 
successfully  shackled  by  the  courts,  the  strikers 
were  like  some  great  beheaded  mastodon,  stag- 
gering about,  vainly  endeavoring  to  retain  the 
dpng  spark  of  life. 


312  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

In  order  to  be  more  explicit,  just  as  soon  as 
the  officers  of  the  American  Railway  Union  were 
incarcerated,  reports  were  circulated  by  the  gen- 
eral managers  at  one  point,  that  men  at  some 
distant  point  had  returned  to  work.  The  men, 
where  these  reports  would  be  received,  would  at 
once  wire  to  the  officers  at  Chicago,  asking  if  it 
be  true.  The  officers  of  the  union  were  prohib- 
ited from  sending  telegrams,  and  on  receiving  no 
reply  they  would  take  it  for  granted  that  these 
reports  were  authentic,  and  apply  for  work.  In 
short,  when  they  lost  the  guidance  of  Debs,  their 
ranks  became  demoralized.  This  was  the  real 
cause  of  the  defeat  of  the  American  Railway 
Union.  Its  first  defeat  after  twelve  decisive  vic- 
tories, eleven  of  which  were  accomplished  with- 
out a  strike.. 

The  prostitution  of  the  government — founded 
on  the  blood  of  our  forefathers — by  the  organized 
capital  of  this  country,  of  which  the  greater  part 
is  foreign  gold,  is  something  of  the  most  vital 
importance  to  every  workingman  in  America  to- 
day. This  is  a  matter  that  demands  the  gravest 
thought  of  every  American  citizen  who  is  loyal 
to  himself,  to  his  family  and  to  his  country. 

The  flagrant  abuse   of    the   constitution   by 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  313 

the  plutocratic  money  power,  if  not  checked  by 
the  people,  will  reduce  them  to  a  condition 
beneath  that  of  any  nation  in  the  knowm  world. 

This  strike  has  clearly  demonstrated  the 
truth  of  this  assertion.  In  not  one  instance  dur- 
ing the  whole  course  of  the  trouble, 
have  the  representatives  of  the  corpor- 
ations and  the  representatives  of  the  govern- 
ment failed  to  unite  in  destroying  the  constitu- 
tional rights  of  the  American  workingman. 

The  devilish  ingenuity  of  this  corporate  power 
goes  still  further  to  retain  the  power  they  hold 
over  the  government.  They  have  conceived  a 
plan  to  disfranchise  in  a  manner  all  members  of 
the  American  Railway  Union  and  deprive  them 
of  the  right  to  vote.  In  this  they  have  actually 
accomplished  their  purpose  by  forcing  its  mem- 
bers out  of  emploj'ment,  and  driving  them  from 
their  homes  to  seek  employment  in  foreign  parts 
of  the  country  on  the  eve  of  election,  where  they 
Avould  not  be  elligible  to  vote. 

The  inherent  cunning  of  this  blood  sucking 
money  power  would  pale  to  insignificance  the 
most  diabolical  deeds  of  the  prince  of  darkness. 

Blinded  by  their  victory  over  the  American 
Railway  Union— through   the   assistance   of  the 


314  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

federal  courts  —  they  will  stop  at  nothing 
to  complete  the  work  of  subjugation 
and  annihilation.  They  have  tested  their  power 
over  the  courts  and  find  them  so  completely  sub- 
servient to  their  will  that  they  know  they  would 
be  secure  in  carrying  out  any  high-handed  pro- 
ceeding which  they  may  deem  necessary  to  com- 
plete their  work  of  demoralization  and  hounding 
to  death,  if  need  be,  the  members  of  this  order. 

This  was  the  very  condition  of  affairs  that 
President  Debs  anticipated,  and  tried  to  guard 
against.  This  was  the  impending  danger  against 
which  he  warned  the  men,  and  for  this  he  filled 
a  felon's  cell  in  Cook  county  jail. 

Against  these  conditions  the  people  must  unite 
and  co-operate.  We  must  no  longer  close  our  eyes  to 
the  glaring  fact  that  we  are  being  made  parties 
to  our  own  destruction  by  the  corporations  and 
trusts  of  this  country,  and  their  allies  the  Demo- 
cratic and  Republican  parties. 

These  two  great  political  parties  are  so  com- 
pletely controlled  by  the  corporations,  that  any- 
thing asked  of  them  is  immediatedly  granted, 
the  only  difference  between  the  two  being  their 
views  as  to  the  best  method  by  which  they  can 
serve  these  corporations. 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  315 

The  railroads  combine  and  trusts  of  all  kinds 
furnish  the  funds  for  campaign  %  purposes,  and 
also  incidentally  furnish  the  votes  to  elect  their 
friends.  They  have  in  every  precinct,  ward, 
town,  cit3',  county  and  state,  their  hirelings  who 
beguile  the  people  into  voting  as  they  dictate. 

The  child  like  confidence  of  the  people  could 
not  be  shaken  in  the  old  parties.  They  were 
ever  read\'  to  place  implicit  faith  in  these  design- 
ing politicians,  believing  that  the  laws  made  by 
them  were  just  what  was  wanted  for  the  people's 
salvation. 

This  delusion  cannot  last,  the  time  is  now 
ripe  for  action.  The  masses  must  protect 
their  interests  if  they  would  be  free  to  enjoy  the 
rights  awarded  them  by  the  constitution. 

The  American  Railway  Union  has  proven  the 
greatest  blessing  to  the  working  people  of  this 
country.  It  has  torn  the  mask  of  hypocracy 
from  these  plutocratic  professional  politicians 
and  revealed  them  in  their  true  character. 

The  w^orking  people  can  no  longer  afford  to 
be  deluded  by  these  old  parties.  They  must 
unite  and  arise  in  one  grand  body  and  assert 
their  independence  as  freemen  and  intelligent 
American  citizens,  and  by  their  ballot  take   pes- 


316  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

session  of  this  government  of  the  capitalist, 
by  the  capitalist,  and  for  the  capitalist,  and 
again  make  it  a  government  of  the  people,  by 
the  people  and  for  the  people. 

President  Debs  struck  the  keynote  when  he 
said  that  it  was  better  for  the  government  to 
own  the  railroads  than  for  the  railroads  to  own 
the  government.  Our  only  chance  to  succeed  in 
obtaining  our  constitutional  rights  is  by  legis- 
lation and  this  we  must  create  ourselves.  We 
never  can  obtain  it  through  either  of  the  old 
parties  and  therefore  must  ally  ourselves  to  a 
new  party. 

It  is  time  that  every  intelligent  workingman 
would  think  and  act  for  himself.  All  semblance 
to  aristocracy  in  labor  must  be  eliminated,  the 
skillful  artesan  has  no  more  guarantee  of  just 
treatment  than  has  the  common  laborer. 

Every  workingman  should  endorse  the  Peoples 
party.  They  must  unite  as  one,  in  one  common 
cause  and  strike  for  their  rights  with  the  only 
effective  weapon  left  to  them  "the  ballot." 

This  strike  has  proven  beyond  doubt  that  the 
protective  features  in  railroad  organizations,  and 
other  organizations  as  well,  is  a  dead  letter  as 
long  as  the  federal  courts  are  controlled  by  cap- 


THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT.  317 

ital.  Unless  this  is  remedied,  all  labor  organiza- 
tions might  just  as  well  send  in  their  charters 
and  cease  to  exist. 

I  cannot  believe  that  the  American  people  will 
allow  this  state  of  affairs  to  continue.  There  are 
many  men  in  public  life  to-day  whose  motives 
are  pure  and  unselfish.  Such  men  as  Governors 
Altgeld,  Waite,  Penoyer;  Congressmen  Kyle, 
Peffer,  McGann,  Pence,  Goldgier ;  Ma^^or  Hopkins 
of  Chicago,  Sydney  M.  Owens,  Clarence  S.  Dar- 
row.  Judge  Tully,  Gen.  Weaver,  W.  W.  Erwin  and 
hosts  of  others,  who  publicly  espoused  the  cause 
of  the  strikers. 

The  subsidized  press,  the  most  dangerous 
enemy  of  labor,  and  next  to  the  courts,  the  most 
effective  weapon  in  the  hands  of  the  railroad  cor- 
porations in  destrojang  the  rights  of  labor  and 
defeating  the  strikers,  has  again  fallen  in  line  as 
the  champions  of  the  laboring  classes.  With 
hypocritical  pretentions  to  sympathy  for  the 
workingman,  the  organs  of  the  two  great  polit- 
ical parties  have  begun  to  knife  each  other,  and 
unite  in  denouncing  the  People's  party,  all  for 
the  benefit  of  the  poor  farmer,  railroader,  me- 
chanic and  laborer.  They  are  loud  in  their  denun- 
ciation of  trusts,  combines  and  corporations  of 


318  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 

all  kinds  that  have  a  tendency  to  crush  the  poor 
working  people.  Their  great  and  generous 
hearts  are  overflowing  with  sympathy  for  the 
poor  oppressed  toiler. 

The  question  is,  can  the  American  working- 
man  be  again  deluded  by  these  organs  of  organ- 
ized capital  ? 

The  laboring  people  do  not  want  sympathy, 
neither  do  they  want  charity,  all  they  want  is 
simple  justice,  and  this  they  must  and  will  have. 

There  are  exceptions  among  the  press  and 
these  should  be  remembered  by  the  people.  Papers 
that  were  champions  of  right  and  justice  and 
whom  the  general  managers  could  not  buy. 

And  now,  kind  reader,  in  conclusion  I  will 
quote  the  words  of  him,  whose  noble  life  is  de- 
voted to  the  cause  of  humanity : 

"  The  strike  was  not  a  failure.  It  will  pass 
into  history  as  a  noble  struggle  for  a  righteous 
cause,  and  those  who  participated  in  it,  whatever 
their  immediate  sacrifices  may  be,  will  in  the  end 
feel  amply  compensated  for  all  their  losses." 

THE  END, 


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